Parents Really Shouldn't Date
by person226
Summary: Sam's mom has a boyfriend with a son and Freddie's dad has a girlfriend with a daughter. The boyfriend of Sam's mom happens to have the same name as Freddie's dad and the girlfriend of Freddie's dad has the same name as Sam's mom. Coincidence? Seddie :
1. The News

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly. I have some stuff, but iCarly isn't on the list of things I own.

A/N: I know I have another story in progress right now, but I couldn't stop thinking about this idea! Here's the first chapter. I know it isn't much, but I still hope you readers like it!I'll be doing my best to update this as often as I can. Tell me what you think and as always leave reviews for me! Suggestions, questions, random thoughts are welcome...just no flames, please :)

* * *

The News

"I'm back from Carly's!" Sam yelled as she walked inside. It was late, probably ten, but Sam knew her mom really wouldn't care considering she had been at Carly's.

"Sam, I need to talk to you." Pam said from her spot in the living room.

Sam frowned at how serious she sounded. "What is it?"

"You know I've been dating Steven for a while now."

Sam made a face. She had always been disgusted by Pam's dating habits, but never said anything. It wasn't as if Pam would listen to her anyways. Besides, Steven seemed decent enough. He was the same guy that she had called and said Pam was hit by a bus. In exchange for a bunny, Sam called Steven back and explained to him that Pam really didn't get hit by a bus. "Yes, Mom, I think I've know that for a while."

Pam ignored Sam's sarcasm. "Well, we got to talking about some things..."

"Aw man, did he break up with you? Or did you break up with him?"

"No, Sam! Stop interrupting."

"Then stop using dramatic pauses!"

Pam glared at Sam but said nothing in retaliation. "Fine, we came up with the idea that I'm going to sell our house and move in with him."

Sam raised an eyebrow with a smile. "Good for you, Mom. Maybe you've finally landed the jackpot."

Pam grinned. "Yeah...I think he might really be the one."

"So when are you moving in with him?"

"_We're_ moving in next week."

"I thought you were going to let me get my own apartment."

"Sam, once you can get a job, hold that job, and learn to pay bills, then you can get an apartment."

Sam scowled, knowing Pam was right. "It isn't far right? I don't want to move away completely from everyone."

"No, it's just fifteen minutes away from here. You'll still be able to walk to Carly's, go to school at Ridgeway and do all the other things you usually do." Pam stood up. "I've already put some boxes in your room. Just fill those up and we'll start moving them in."

Sam leaned further down in the couch. She didn't want to pack because she knew that consisted of work.

"Oh! Forgot to mention Steven's got a son. Please try not to scare the kid."

Sam smirked. Maybe she could have fun with this move.

* * *

"Freddie, I need to talk with you." Mrs. Benson said.

Freddie groaned. "Mom, is this about cleaning my ears? I don't need them cleaned anymore." he put the TV on mute to listen to his mom.

"It isn't about that. Have a seat, please." Mrs. Benson patted the chair beside her.

Freddie put on a worried look. "What is it?" he asked as he sat down. "Is everything all right?"

"Well...yes. Everything is fine."

"Then what's wrong?"

Mrs. Benson sighed heavily. "There was a huge promotion at work. Two thousand dollar increase on the paycheck, less hours, and more vacation time. I found out today I was given the promotion."

"Mom! That's great! I'm happy for you." Freddie said as he gave his mom a hug.

"Yeah...but the promotion also means I have to move."

Freddie looked at his mom with a serious look. "Where to?"

"Spokane, Washington."

Freddie didn't say anything for a bit, letting everything sink in. "So we're moving? But what about school? Carly and Sam? My friends? The _webshow_?"

"I didn't say you were moving. I'm moving. I know you have all these things here in Seattle, so I was wondering if you would move in with...your father." Mrs. Benson said with a cringe.

Freddie blinked. "You want me to move in with Dad? Wait, let me rephrase that...you're _letting_ me move in with Dad?"

"Please don't make this harder on me!" Mrs. Benson said, on the verge of tears. "I know that you wouldn't be happy in Spokane without all your friends and since your father lives here in  
Seattle, I asked him if you could. He said it was all right as long as you wanted to."

"So...I move in with Dad while you move to Spokane?"

"Yes. If you want to."

"Um...okay."

"Was that a yes?"

"Yeah. I'll move in with Dad. When do I need to start packing?"

Mrs. Benson stared at Freddie before bursting into tears and pulling Freddie into a tight hug.

"Mom, I can't breathe!"

"Oh, Freddie. I'm so sorry. It's just...you're growing up so fast!" Mrs. Benson let go and held his shoulders.

"I've been 'growing up so fast' since the day I was born. Remember? That's just how life is."

Mrs. Benson wiped her eyes. "I know. But it feels like just yesterday you were taking your first few steps."

"Before or after you took off the helmet?"

"I wanted to be sure you wouldn't damage your head!"

Freddie shook his head at his mother. "So when are you moving?"

"In about a week and a half since the company is providing me with an apartment. That means you need to start moving by the end of the week. There's some boxes in the storage that you  
can use for your stuff."

"You okay about this Mom?"

Mrs. Benson smiled and ruffled Freddie's hair. "As long as you're happy."

Freddie got up. "I'm going to Carly's to tell her and Sam. And don't be sad Mom. Who knows, maybe you'll find a boyfriend." Freddie teased as he walked to the door.

Mrs. Benson grinned. "Maybe I will."

Freddie shook the image of his mom kissing someone while he walked out of the apartment and headed to Carly's. Sam was lying on the floor while Carly was in the kitchen.

"Uh, what are you doing on the floor?"

"Trying to figure out which is better; tile or carpet."

"Why?"

"Spencer wants to take out the rug and put in tile." Carly said from the kitchen. "What's up, Freddie?"

Freddie stared at Sam, still not understanding. He shook his head and sat on the couch. "Nothing. I found out some news."

"I don't care, so don't even start." Sam said, pulling a fat cake out of her pocket and eating it.

"Must you be mean to Freddie?" Carly asked as she pulled something out of the oven.

Freddie smirked. "The world would end once Sam stops picking on me."

Sam chuckled. "Wow, Benson. You actually answered a question that mattered right."

Carly rolled her eyes at their behavior. "So what's the big news?"

"I'm-"

"Oh! Carly! I forgot to tell you! My mom's moving in with her boyfriend." Sam interrupted.

Carly frowned at Sam's interruption and her news. "Her boyfriend for one week?"

"No, they've actually been going steady for a year. It's really weird, but he asked her to move in with him."

"Wow...okay then. Are you moving too?"

"Yeah, she says I have to. I tried to convince her to get me an apartment but she shot down that idea."

"You're sure this is a good idea for you to be moving with her?" Freddie asked.

"I've met the dude a few times and he seems decent enough. He doesn't have a criminal record, so that automatically makes him an okay guy."

"But wouldn't you rather be safe than sorry?" Freddie continued.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Geez, Benson. Do you think my mom would date skeevy guys? Sure she's dated lawyers and tax collectors, but she's never dated anyone who's _hurt_ someone...physically at least."

"It's not far away, right?" Carly asked.

"No. It's probably thirty minutes walking distance from here."

"Oh, well that's not far at all."

"Nope." Sam turned to Freddie. "So what were you going to say, Fredbag?"

"I'm moving too. I'm going to live with my dad."

Sam sat up. "You're leaving?"

"I'm not leaving Seattle. My dad lives really close, so nothing would be changing. I would just live a bit further away."

"Aw, that means you can't spy on Carly anymore from your peep hole." Sam teased.

"Freddie stopped doing that a year ago, right Freddie." Carly said.

"Yeah, Sam. I grew out of my obsession."

Carly frowned. "Well that sounds weird. You were obsessed with me."

"Anyways. I'll see you peoples later. I'm going to go get me some food."

"I made cupcakes, though. You don't want any?"

Sam paused at the door, looking at the cupcakes. "Let me get some bacon, then I'll eat some." she said before walking out the door for her bacon.

"I think you scared her." Carly said as soon as Sam left. She started putting frosting on the cupcakes.

"Why do you say that?" Freddie asked as he took a seat at the bar.

"Didn't you see the way she sat up when you said that you were moving? She looked pretty scared to me..."

"And what are you trying to imply, Carly? That Sam didn't want me moving somewhere far away?" Freddie asked, dipping his finger in the frosting.

Carly glared at him for doing that. "Maybe...you know that a lot of people have moved out of Sam's life. She doesn't want anyone else to move out either. And don't stick your dirty fingers in the frosting!"

"I don't think she'd mind me moving out of her life though." Freddie pointed out.

Carly shook her head. "You really are clueless when it comes to girls."

"What's that mean?"

"Nothing it doesn't already mean. Cupcake?"


	2. The Move

A/N: Thanks everyone that reviewed! You guys really deserve an award, haha. Sorry to keep you waiting for a new chapter. I'll really try my best to get the next chapter up sooner. Of course, the more reviews I get, the sooner the next chapter will be out...no pressure or anything...review if you liked this. Oh and ideas are always welcome. If I really like something, I'll somehow incorporate it into the story. :)  


* * *

  
The Move

"So last night was the last night I was going to stay at my house." Sam said to Carly.

Carly shut her locker and looked at Sam. It almost looked like she was a little sullen. "You okay?"

"Yeah. It's just going to be weird. I mean, that's where I grew up and now we're moving. There were a lot of memories in that old shack. Remember when Frothy got sick and we had to-"

"_Don't_ speak of that! I never want to remember what happened!" Carly interrupted before Sam could get further in the story."

"What happened?"

The two girls turned around and saw Freddie. "Don't ask." Carly grumbled.

Sam muffled some laughs. "Frothy freaked Carly out last time she came over to my place."

"Surprised it wasn't your mom." Freddie said with a smirk.

"That's happened too. Once, my mom accidentally-"

"Anyways!" Carly exclaimed, trying to change the subject.

"But I want to know what happened!" Freddie whined.

"With Frothy or my mom?"

"Your mom."

"Okay, so my mom hid some-"

"Sam!"

"Fine, I won't tell the dipwad." Sam grumbled as she held up her hands.

"So what's up Freddie?" Carly asked, glad to have changed the subject.

"Nothing. Last night was my last night at Bushwell. My dad's coming by after he gets off of work to help me take all the stuff to his place." Freddie said as they headed towards the cafeteria.

"Wait, what's your dad's name?" Carly asked.

"Steven. Anyways, he made me swear not to tell my mom that he's got a girlfriend and that she's actually moving in sometime this week too."

"If you're just like your dad, I can't imagine what kind of desperate girl ended up dating your dad." Sam said.

"Well, if you're just like your mom, I can't imagine what kind of sorry loser of a guy ended up dating your mom." Freddie shot back.

"Come on, guys. Let's not get into another argument." Carly intervened before it could get out of hand.

They grabbed their lunch and headed to their usual table. "I'm sure your mom's boyfriend is great and your dad's girlfriend is great too. Now can we all just eat our lunch like civilized people?"

"Sam? Eat civilized? The world would have to start spinning backwards before _that_ ever happens." Freddie said with a roll of his eyes.

"Watch it, Benson, or I send you home crying to your mommy."

"Oh please, Puckett! You wouldn't..."

Carly tuned them out as she started picking at her food. There always had to be a disagreement at lunch. For once, she just wanted to eat in peace.

* * *

Sam turned around in her seat to check on her bunny that was in the back seat. Rusty Dusty, her bunny, was calmly eating a piece of lettuce. "Since we're moving into a bigger house, could I get another bunny?" Sam asked Pam.

Pam glanced away from the road to look at Sam for a quick moment. "I'd rather you ask Steven first, but I say it's perfectly fine. Just keep it out of my sight."

"Is he there at the house?"

"No, he's still at work. I think he said he was going to coming back around ten or eleven."

Sam looked out the window. They were starting to reach Steven's neighborhood. She saw all the houses and couldn't believe how big they were. It was...ridiculous almost. She knew houses like these existed, but she never thought she'd actually move into one.

"If you think these houses are huge, check out Steven's."

Sam tried her best not to gape as Pam drove through and opened gate. The house was bigger than she ever imagined. The whole property had to be at _least_ six acres long and wide.

"Does he have a maid?" Sam asked as they stepped out of the car.

"No, he doesn't like having a staff to take care of the house. He says he can do all that stuff on his own."

Sam's smile fell. "That really sucks."

"Start getting your stuff out. You get the room that's one the first floor right next to the kitchen."

Sam's heart soared, grateful to hear that she would be so close to the food area of the house. While she was busy thinking about how great it was going to be, she failed to hear her mom mention her room was going to be right across from Steven's son's room.

* * *

Freddie looked up at the apartment building as he leaned against the rental truck his dad had gotten. Everything was loaded up and ready to go. He had said bye to his mom and promised he'd come by tomorrow before she left for Spokane. He would've said bye to Carly and Spencer but he was going to see them tomorrow. He didn't see the point in it.

"You ready to go, kid?" Steven asked as he came out of the building.

"Yeah." Freddie said a little quietly as he walked around the truck to get into the passenger side.

Steven started driving away. "You didn't say bye to your friends there?"

"It was just Carly and I'll see her tomorrow anyways."

Steven nodded his head. "I swear, your mom is getting crazy by the hour." he threw in. When Steven went inside, Marissa freaked out because he forgot to take off his shoes.

Freddie chuckled. "I'd be more offended if it wasn't true."

"Well, she did a good job at raising you though." Steven cleared his throat. "Um, when I told your mother that you could move in with me, I sort of failed to mention something to her..."

"What is it? Do you have a dog?" Freddie asked with a smile. If she had found out about a dog, she would've flipped and made sure Freddie didn't move in.

"No. You remember the lady I've been dating?"

"Oh yeah...was it Paige?"

"It's Pam. Anyways, you already know she's moving in too, right?"

"Yeah, I've known that. You told me not to tell Mom."

"I forgot to tell you that she has a daughter. I think she's your age too."

"Oh. What's her name?"

"I feel really bad for this, but I can't exactly remember. I know for sure it starts with an 's'. Anyways, just be sure not to let anything slip about Pam or her daughter whenever you talk with her."

Freddie nodded his head and looked out the window. Marissa would've definitely changed her mind if she found out about either of those things.

About ten minutes later, Steven pulled up to the house. "Pretty nice, huh?"

Freddie closed his opened jaw and nodded his head. "I didn't know you lived in this big of a place." he said as he came out of the truck.

Steven shrugged his shoulders. "One of the benefits of being a great doctor. You can take everything down in the morning. It's pretty late and you've got school in the morning. There's already a bed in your room with some clean sheets."

Freddie grabbed his essentials and followed Steven inside. "Your room is right over here." Steven said as he opened the door.

"Wow, thanks Dad." Freddie said as he went in.

"No problem. Just tell me if you need anything. I'll give you a tour of the place sometime tomorrow. Oh and me and Pam are fixing to leave to go eat. Don't stay up late." Steven said before he left.

Freddie shook the thought of Steven going on a 'date' as he sat on his bed and looked around his new room. It was huge. He knew he was going to love this place.

* * *

Sam laid on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. Her room was huge. Bigger than Carly's, and that was saying something. Maybe that meant she could finally let Rusty Dusty stay in her room and even get him a companion.

She heard the front door open and two pairs of footsteps walking down the hall. She assumed it was Steven and maybe his son? Sam knew she could very well get up and see, even introduce herself, but she was way too comfortable to move. She didn't hear anything else except for one pair of footsteps walking away. It sounded as if the person was going upstairs.

Sam rolled over on her bed and looked at all the boxes. She hadn't unpacked _anything_, not even her bed. When Pam showed her the room, there was already a bed assembled for her. Her mom told her to start unpacking, but Sam saw no point in unpacking right now. It wasn't as if anyone was going to come in here and evaluate her room. She just needed the essentials which included her phone charger and several fat cakes. Everything else could wait.

It was late but Sam wasn't tired and she definitely wasn't going to start unpacking. So she pulled out her phone and started to text the only person she knew that would be awake at this time.  
_  
To Freddie: What kind of nubby thing are you doing right now?

* * *

_

Freddie was just about to lay down and possibly fall asleep. He remembered his mom telling him to text her when he got to Steven's but that could wait until the morning. He really didn't feel like sending her a message right now, knowing it would only lead to her calling him and asking him an extreme amount of question.

His phone vibrated and he inwardly groaned. It seemed like his mom couldn't wait for him to reply. He pulled it out to see what she had written. Freddie smiled when he saw it was Sam.

_To Sam: I don't do nubby things. Most things that I do are actually pretty cool. I'm not doing anything really. I was about to go to sleep but now I'm being plagued by a blonde demon. Besides, shouldn't you be unpacking instead of texting?

* * *

_

Sam heard her phone give a loud ring. She grabbed it and read the new message. She smiled as she wrote out a reply.  
_  
To Freddie: Watch it, Benson. Just because I'm not there to punch you right now, doesn't mean you aren't going to get one tomorrow for that comment. Yeah, I'm supposed to be unpacking, but you know me well enough to know that I'm not going to do that for a long time. Right now I'm just staring up at my ceiling.

* * *

_

Freddie heard a loud ringing from the other side of his wall. He figured it was Pam's daughter. He hoped her phone wasn't going to be ringing like that all night. He did want to get some sleep eventually.

His phone vibrated and he quickly read the message, then wrote a reply.  
_  
To Sam: Nice...hey, what if me and Carly go over and help you unpack?

* * *

_

The door to Sam's room opened and Pam came in. "I knew you hadn't unpack yet."

Sam rolled her eyes and sat up. "Like you haven't."

Pam scoffed lightly. "Whatever. Me and Steven are going out. I don't know what time we'll be back. Don't stay up past three. You still have school tomorrow."

"I know." Sam mumbled as Pam walked out of her room.

Her phone dinged and she read the message. She raised an eyebrow at Freddie's bold request.  
_  
To Freddie: I'll probably ask Carly, but there is no way you are going to come over to my new place and helping me unpack.

* * *

_

Freddie heard another ding from the other side of his wall. He wondered if maybe he should introduce himself or not. They were going to be living together, might as well get to know each other. He also heard the front door open and close. Steven and Pam must've left.

He received a new message and put away the thought of introducing himself for a moment. When he finished reading it, he smirked as he wrote his reply message.  
_  
To Sam: Why not? Scared I'm going to see all of your 'I love Vegas' panties? It's not like I haven't seen them before. In fact, I thought they were pretty cute._

Once he sent the message, he got up from the bed and headed into the kitchen. He was starting to feel hungry.

* * *

Sam heard a door open and somebody beginning to walk down the hall. Couple seconds later, she heard the microwave starting up. It was probably Steven's son. Sam was tempted to go out and steal his food.

Her phone dinged again and she stopped thinking about stealing his food.  
_  
To Freddie: Just because we're texting doesn't mean you can get all confident. I can still go where you live and beat the chiz out of you so you better watch it. And I don't need your help unpacking because I don't want all of your nerd germs getting all over my stuff. I might have to go steal some spray from that crazy mother of yours if that happened.

* * *

_

Freddie looked at his phone as it started vibrating on the counter. He pulled his plate out of the microwave and read the message while walking back to his room.  
_  
To Sam: Fine, Puckett. I wouldn't even want to touch your stuff anyways.

* * *

_

Sam smelled mashed potatoes when she heard the footsteps come back down the hallway and into the room next to her. She regretted not getting up and grabbing the guy's food. She shrugged her shoulders getting up from bed.  
_  
To Freddie: Whatever Benson. I'll talk to you tomorrow at school. I'm going to take a shower. Night.

* * *

_

Freddie sat back on his bed with his plate of mashed potatoes and pulled out his computer. While it started up, his phone buzzed again.  
_  
To Sam: See you, Princess Puckett._

He plugged the phone into his charger and got online to look up random videos. A few seconds later, he heard the shower water begin to run. Freddie grimaced, realizing that Pam's daughter had just gone in. Considering she was a girl, it was going to be a while before Freddie would get a chance at the shower. Plus, there was a high chance all the hot water would be gone.


	3. The Found

A/N: New chapter! Posted it a lot sooner because you guys are great! You people made me feel so great with all the nice reviews :D I even posted despite the fact I had the flu yesterday. So here's the new chapter. Review a bunch and I'll post sooner! Enjoy the chapter :)

* * *

The Found

"Morning Dad." Freddie said as he walked into the kitchen and set his backpack on the chair. He looked over at Steven who was hunched over a cup of coffee. "Wow, looks like you had a rough night."

Steven looked up with a tired look but a wide smile. "You have no idea."

Freddie banned his imagination to take that phrase and run wild with it. He made himself believe Steven had a really good dream that kept waking him up last night. Yeah, that made perfect sense.

"So did you introduce yourself to Samantha?"

"Who's Samantha?"

"Pam's daughter. I found out last night that's her name for sure."

"Oh...well, no I didn't. I stayed in my room."

Pam came out of the hallway and into the kitchen looking horrible. Even though she had a short hair cut, Pam's blonde hair was all over the place. "Morning." she grumbled as she headed to the coffee pot and poured herself a large mug. Freddie stared at her, wondering why she looked familiar.

"Hey, is Samantha ready for school? I haven't seen her up all morning." Steven asked as he got up and gave Pam a peck on her cheek. Pam in turn glared at him.

"I don't do kisses this early in the morning and I doubt she's awake. What time is it?"

"Fifteen minutes until school." Freddie said as he grabbed his backpack. "Just enough time for us to get there without being late."

Pam rolled her eyes. "Go ahead and take the kid. I'll go drag her butt out of bed." Pam said as she headed back down the hallway.

"She isn't awake yet?" Steven asked in surprise.

"Of course she isn't. If I wouldn't wake her up, she'd stay in bed until three. I'll take her to her school, don't worry about it." Pam said as she waved them off.

Steven and Freddie walked out of the house and into the car. "Well Dad, from what I've seen so far, Pam seems very...nice."

"You just have to get to know her better. She may seem abrasive at first, but she's actually a very nice woman." Steven said as he started driving.

Freddie smiled, being reminded of his blonde-headed friend.

* * *

"Sam! Get your lazy butt out of bed!"

Sam groaned as the lights turned on and Pam began yelling at her. "Why are you waking me up?" she yelled into her pillow, keeping her eyes shut tight.

"It's time for school and it seems like Steven wants you to start getting there on time." Pam grabbed Sam's pillow, exposing her to the light.

"Well Steven sounds like a stupid nub." Sam said as she tried to keep the light blocked out still.

"He's not that bad."

Sam pried her eyes open at the tone of voice Pam was using. It was soft and light. Something her mom never used. Especially this early in the morning. "Are you serious?"

Pam looked at Sam. "I really like him Sam! I know I've told you this a thousand times, but I realy think he might be the one. You know, like my soul mate."

Sam grimaced at the mushiness. "All right! I'll get up if that means you'll stop talking about soul mates!" she quickly climbed out of bed and opened a box of clothes, trying to find an outfit for school.

Pam laid on Sam's unmade bed. "I'm being serious about it, Sam. I really think he's a great guy. Who knows, maybe one day-"

"You'll shut up about it and not mentally scar your kid!" Sam interrupted.

Pam got up and gave Sam a hug. "Whatever you say, Sam. Tell me when you're ready so I can take you to school."

Sam stared at her mom as she walked away. She _never_ gave Sam a hug in the morning. Heck, she hardly _ever_ gave Sam hugs! Pam must really be in love.

"What do you think Rusty Dusty?" Sam asked her bunny. She turned around to look at him, but the door on his cage was open and Rusty Dusty was no where in sight.

"Sam! Hurry up! I'm not getting off to get you a tardy slip!" Pam yelled from whatever room she was in.

Sam sighed. She just had to hope that Rusty Dusty wouldn't get into any kind of trouble while she was gone.

* * *

"Is something wrong? You've been kind of quiet all day." Carly asked as the two girls walked to their lockers. Their final period started in about five minutes.

"I think Rusty Dusty ran away." Sam said with a small pout.

"Aw, did you look for him?"

"No, I had to get to school."

"Well I'm sure you'll find him."

"Yeah, I hope so. My mom said I could get another one, it just has to be all right with Steven." Sam said with a smile this time.

"You mean your step-dad?"

Sam shot Carly an evil look. "He isn't my step-dad."

Carly smirked. "Just one more step away and he will be."

"Hey ladies. How's it going?" Freddie asked as he walked up to them.

"Oh great, just when I thought my day couldn't get worse, you show up." Sam said as she slammed her locker.

"Is everything all right?" he asked, looking from Carly to Sam.

"Yeah, Sam's just upset because she kind of lost Rusty Dusty, her bunny."

"And she called my mom's boyfriend my step-dad. He isn't going to be my step-dad!"

"You never know..." Carly said.

Sam resisted the urge to hit her best friend. Instead she leaned over and punched Freddie.

"Ow! What was that for?" Freddie exclaimed as he held his wounded arm. It actually didn't hurt that bad, but he didn't want to burst Sam's bubble.

"I needed to punch something." Sam said with a shrug of her shoulders. "I actually feel a lot better now. See Freddie! You are good for something!"

Freddie rolled his eyes as they started walking to class. They had their last period together. Physics. "So what are you guys doing after school?" Freddie asked taking his seat at his desk.

Carly took the desk next to him and Sam sat behind him. "I'm going over to Carly's house."

"You are?" Carly asked. "I thought you were going home to look for Rusty."

"He's a smart bunny. I'm sure he'll just hop his way back into his cage." Sam said.

"Could I come over too?" Freddie asked.

Carly rolled her eyes. "Why do you bother asking? You two always seem to be at my apartment every day."

"Aw, you're letting the dork come?" Sam whined.

"I'm not too excited about you being there either." Freddie said.

"It wouldn't be a party without me, though."

"We aren't even _having_ a party!"

"Anywhere Sam goes it's a party."

Freddie rolled his eyes. "No it isn't."

"Okay, look at it this way; I'm the party, you're the pooper. Without the party, you'd just be a pooper. Might as well have the party and not be so bad." Sam said with a smirk.

Carly shook her head and chuckled. That definitely was a new one from Sam.

"Sorry I'm late, everyone. Go ahead and open your textbooks to page 45." Mr. Trudo said as he walked into the class.

Carly and Freddie pulled out their textbooks while Sam pulled out her notebook and started doodling.

* * *

"I'm home!" Carly called out as she walked into the apartment, Sam and Freddie trailing behind her.

"Hey Carly!" Spencer said as he looked up from his sculpture. "...And Sam and Freddie...don't you guys live further away now?"

"Yeah, but we're still going to be spending most of our time here." Sam said as she headed to the kitchen. "Got any ham?" she asked with her head in the fridge.

"Don't eat the rest of our ham!" Spencer exclaimed.

"Too late." Freddie said, sitting at the bar. There was a bowl of cashews that he started munching on.

He was right. The ham was already being digested by Sam.

Spencer sighed sadly. "So how was school?"

"Boring."

"Average."

"Okay."

Spencer nodded his head at their different responses. "Anything new?" he asked, pouring himself a glass of tea.

"Carly started teasing Sam about Steven being her new step-dad." Freddie said with a smirk.

"Don't even bring it up, Frederly." Sam growled.

"Whoa, you're getting a step-dad? That's great!...Right?"

"It isn't true and it wouldn't be that great." Sam said, sitting next to Freddie. She grabbed some cashews from the bowl. "The dude is a nub. Besides, Freddie's the one that's going to get a new step-parent."

"My dad isn't going to marry his girlfriend."

"How do you know?" Carly asked.

"Because...he wouldn't do that."

"We need a better reason." Spencer said.

"Well...cause she seems like she's really grouchy and moody and messy too."

"And the momma's boy just can't have that!" Sam said in mock-horror.

"Oh yeah? Well what's so horrible about Steven?"

"He looks like he belongs in an AV club. Plus he's always wearing stripes and he's so uptight. My mom wouldn't marry him, no matter what she thinks."

"What's wrong with being in an AV club?" Freddie asked, clearly offended by the comment.

"Have you looked in the mirror lately?" Sam asked.

Freddie rolled his eyes.

"So what's her name?" Spencer asked Freddie.

"Pam."

Spencer furrowed his brows in confusion as did Carly.

"And your mom's boyfriend is Steven?" Carly asked.

"Yeah, I already said that."

"Oh! Guess what they're showing!" Freddie said looking at Sam, completely changing the conversation.

"What? Some nerdy tech show?"

"No. They're showing a fifteen minute preview of all the fights this season!"

"Sweet!" Sam exclaimed as she jumped up and ran to the couch. Freddie quickly followed her and the two were plastered to the TV.

"You heard what I heard, right?" Carly asked Spencer.

"Yeah...but that couldn't happen. I mean...really? Pam and Steven? Their parents?"

"Yeah...that's ridiculous! As ridiculous as Sam and Freddie getting together."

"Didn't they kiss though?"

"That was just to get it over with." Carly said quickly.

Spencer watched Sam and Freddie as they watched the TV excitedly, completely oblivious to their conversation. They were smiling, laughing, and being civil. They almost looked...cute.  
"Yeah...that is ridiculous..."

* * *

Sam was walking down the street humming to the music playing on her PearPod. It was probably nine already and it was pretty dark. Freddie's dad had picked up Freddie around six. Sam and Carly started talking once he was gone. Sam wondered how she could hold a conversation with Carly for so long. Spencer finally kicked her out, but first offered her a ride home. She said she'd rather walk and be able to listen to her own music then ride in the car with him and have to listen to the noise he called music.

She walked up the porch steps and opened the door. Pam was in the kitchen and Steven was in the dining room.

"Hey Mom, Steven."

Steven looked up from his work. "What are you doing home so late? Why didn't you call? Where were you? What were you doing?"

"Whoa, chill with the questions dude! I was with a friend."

"Carly?" Pam asked.

"Yeah."

"It's all right, Steven. They weren't doing anything bad." Pam said.

"She could've called." Steven said.

"For what? If she wasn't home by midnight, then you can worry."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes she is." Sam said. "Now if you don't mind me I'm going to go watch some TV in my room." she walked past the restroom and heard the shower going. Steven's son was probably in there. It didn't bother her that she didn't know his name, so it definitely wouldn't bother her if she 'accidentally' turned off the hot water.

* * *

Freddie slipped on a shirt as he walked into the dining room where Steven and Pam were enjoying a meal. It looked like it had come from a TV dinner set. It wouldn't surprise Freddie if that was as far as Pam's cuisine skills went. "Dad, the hot water turned off while I was showering. Isn't it electrical, therefore, not supposed to shut off like that?"

Pam chuckled. "What kind of person says 'therefore'?" she mumbled loudly.

"I say 'therefore' a lot." Steven said with a small frown.

Pam lightly pinched his cheek. "And you sound so cute when you say it."

Steven grinned. "Therefore, I should get a kiss for sounding cute."

"Hm, I guess you should."

Freddie quickly cleared his throat before they could even get close. He didn't need a make-out session branded into his mind. "So the water heater?"

"I'll call someone tomorrow to check on it. Did you ever finish taking your stuff down from the truck?"

"Yeah, I got most of it."

"Be sure and unpack. I'm sure your mother will flip if she finds out you haven't."

Freddie grimaced inwardly. "I guess I better finish up, then."

He walked to his room, turned on the light, and jumped in surprise. There was a bunny on the floor, eating one of his boxes. "No! Don't do that!" he cried out as he ran to the bunny. He  
carefully pulled away the box, grateful that it hadn't eaten any of his clothes.

The bunny stared at Freddie and Freddie stared right back. "Where did you come from?" Freddie asked.

The bunny just wiggled its nose and kept staring at Freddie.

Freddie shook his head. "What am I doing? I'm talking to a _bunny_!" he uneasily reached out and picked up the bunny, surprised at how light it was. It probably only looked fat because of its fur. He walked out into the dining room and held out the bunny. "Uh...I found...this...in my room."

"I knew she was going to lose that thing!" Pam exclaimed. She got up and grabbed the bunny. "Thanks for finding him." Pam said as she started walking away.

Freddie looked at Pam as she walked down the hall then back to his dad.

Steven shook his head. "That's Samantha's bunny. Did it get into any of your stuff?"

"No, it just ate half of one my boxes. No damage to my stuff though."

"Good. You still need to finish unpacking though."

"I'm going." Freddie said with a small grumble.

* * *

Sam threw her backpack on her bed and looked over to her cage. She bit her lip when she saw Rusty Dusty still wasn't there. "Come on, you stupid bunny. Get back in you cage wherever you are." she grumbled as she bent down and looked under her bed.

She looked under all of her furniture, in her closet, she even unpacked some of her boxes, hoping Rusty had somehow managed to get in one of them. She let out an exasperated sigh as she sat on her bed. She couldn't find him anywhere.

Her door opened and Pam came in with Rusty Dusty in her arms.

"There you are!" Sam exclaimed as she jumped up and quickly grabbed Rusty. "I swear, if you weren't so cute, I'd kill you and eat you right now." Sam told Rusty as she settled him back in his cage, making sure the door was locked right this time. "Where was he?" she turned to ask Pam.

"Frankie's room."

Sam gave Pam a blank. "Who's that?"

"Steven's kid. At least I think that's his name."

"Sweet. Tell him I say thanks."

"Sam, you have to be sure Rusty doesn't get out like that again."

"Of course I will!" Sam said sarcastically.

Pam rolled her eyes. "Don't stay up too late." she said as she walked out of Sam's room.

Sam looked around at the mess that was now in her room. She shrugged her shoulders. Most everything was already out of the boxes, might as well put the stuff away.


	4. The Suspicions

A/N: Fifty reviews! You guys are awesome :D Just for that, I'm posting a new chapter! I hope you guys like this new one, I know I do. So read it, love it, then review it! And I've got a little deal for you guys...give me twenty reviews and I'll post another chapter tomorrow...I know it's bribing, but let's try it! So what do you say...twenty reviews for a new chapter tomorrow?

* * *

The Suspicions

Sam rolled over in bed and looked at the time. It was ten in the morning. It was too early for her to wake up for Saturday, but she climbed out of bed anyways. It was slightly chilly in the house so she threw on a sweater and headed to the kitchen. Pam was at the dining table halfway through a foot long sandwich. "Morning Mom." she grumbled as she grabbed some milk from the fridge. Sam popped open the spout and drank straight from the carton.

Pam made a face at Sam. "Don't be so gross. Pour some in a glass."

Sam smirked as she wiped away the small milk moustache. "Tastes better straight from the carton."

"You didn't even brush your teeth, did you?"

"Yes, Mom. I did." Sam lied. "So I'm going over to Carly's. Don't know when I'll be back."

"You going to need a ride?"

"Nah, I'll call and see if Spencer can pick me up."

"I've got to go to the store and buy some groceries. Steven's going to be here so if you need anything just ask him." Pam said, "Try not to do anything illegal." Pam ruffled Sam's hair a little, then walked upstairs to her room. The sandwich on her plate had disappeared completely.

Sam headed to her room to start getting ready, but stopped when she heard the phone ringing. It was the house phone hanging on the kitchen wall. She shrugged her shoulders. She lived here, might as well answer it. "Hello?"

"_I'm look for Dr. Benson. There's been an emergency at the hospital and he needs to get down here as soon as possible!"_

Sam frowned. She knew Steven was a doctor, but his last name couldn't be Benson. That was impossible! "Sorry, there's no 'Dr. Benson' at this place."

"_But-!"_

Sam hung up, not wanting to hear any protests. She walked to her room and pulled out her cell, dialing Carly's number. "Carlay! What's going on?" Sam asked as soon as she heard the line pick up.

"_I'm packing for-"_

"Aw, please don't tell me you're going to Yuckima to visit your granddad this weekend."

"_It's Yakima, and yes, I'm going to be gone the whole weekend. Spencer's coming with me too."_

"Ugh, well thanks for ruining my plans!" Sam whined.

"_I didn't even know you had plans! If you wanted to do something, you should've told me ahead of time. You know I like planning things out."_

"Fine. I guess I'll find something other to do."

"_Why don't you hang out with Frankie?"_

"But he's probably a nub!"

"_Have you even met him yet?"_

"No, but he could still be a nub."

"_Then at least explore the house. I bet you haven't gone anywhere except for your room, the bathroom, and the kitchen."_

"But that involves walking! I'd rather just watch TV on the couch."

"_Do whatever you want, Sam. I've got to go. Spencer's yelling at me so we can leave already. See you at school Monday."_

"Yeah, see you." Sam hung up her phone and tossed her phone on a pile of clothes on the floor. She collapsed on her bed and stared at her ceiling for a few moments. She sat up and grabbed her computer. She wasn't about to go out and explore the house. That meant she would have to walk around. Staying in bed sounded like a much better idea.

* * *

Freddie searched through his closet, which was now packed with his clothes, for a shirt to wear today. It was Saturday and he was ready to do something fun, meaning he was going to hang out at Carly's place and probably receive all kinds of abuse if Sam was there.

His door opened and Steven stood in the doorway. "Did you hear the house phone ring?"

"Yeah, I think I heard Samantha answer it though."

"Oh okay. Well I've got to go to the hospital. There's an emergency that I've got to take care of. Are you going somewhere? I could drop you off real quick on the way."

"I'm going to Carly's, but I was just going to walk. I kind of wanted some fresh air."

"All right. Don't be home too late and please remember to call your mother. You didn't call her last night and you weren't the one waking up in the middle of the night to take a call from her to reassure her that you were okay."

Freddie grimaced for his dad's misfortune. "I promise I won't forget."

"Good. I've got to be going now. Call me if you need anything." Steven said before walking out of Freddie's room.

He went back to his closet, changed into a penny-tee, some pants, and his high tops. He grabbed his phone and started dialing Carly's number, just to be sure she was there. Now that he didn't live across from her, it would be a long walk to get back home if she wasn't there.

"_Hey, Freddie."_

"Hi Carly. What are you up to right now?"

"_I'm just about to leave to Yakima right now."_

"Oh..."

"_Did you need something?"_

"I was going to come over, but never mind. Now I've got to change everything for today." Freddie said with annoyance in his voice. He only used the annoyance though because he knew it would bug Carly.

"_You and Sam are both terrible! How many times have I asked that you tell me these things ahead of time?"_

"I'm not as terrible as Sam!" Freddie defended.

"_Whatever. But you can't come over since the place is locked and everything."_

"Fine, I guess I'll have to find something else to do."

"_Introduce yourself to Samantha. I know you haven't done that yet."_

Freddie made a face, glad Carly wasn't able to see him. "No, I'll probably just look around the house. I haven't really done any exploring besides my room and the kitchen."

"_But I really think it'd be better if you-"_

"And I have to go! Bye Carly! Hope you have a great time in Yakima!" Freddie said quickly before Carly could convince him into doing anything he didn't want to. He stuffed his phone into his  
back pocket and walked out of his room into the kitchen.

Freddie opened the fridge, grabbed the carton of milk, and poured himself a glass of milk. He wondered where he could start looking around. Maybe he could try the rest of this floor then move up to the second floor.

* * *

Sam's finger lightly tapped the 'b' button on her keyboard, being careful not to push it hard enough to enter it into the computer. She had already checked her twitter account and splashface page and found nothing interesting. So now she was on her favorite site. The search engine that found the answer to any question you typed. She typed out the question that had been bothering her for a while. 'How common is the last name Benson?'

Seconds after she pushed the enter button, the search results came in. She clicked on the first link it gave her. The website gave her a list of the 1,000 most common surnames in America. She scrolled down until she found Benson. It ranked at number 331. That meant it was sort of common. There could be a possibility that Steven just happened to have the same last name as Freddie.

Sam let out a loud groan as she laid down on her bed. Her imagination was starting to get a bit crazy with this new idea. She needed to do something to get her mind off of everything. She sat up and grabbed her computer again, this time looking up the prices on baby bunnies.

* * *

Freddie walked past the dining room and into the living room, one of the many room he had never been in before. A huge TV was mounted on the wall with a nice leather couch in direct view of the TV. There was a huge window on one side that showed the front yard and on the other side was a fireplace with pictures lined up on the mantle.

He walked up to it, wondering what kind of pictures his dad had up. A few were of Steven and his older sister and parents, some were of Freddie and Steven, but the majority was of Steven and Pam. Freddie smiled, glad his dad had found someone he could be happy with. He just wondered how long the relationship would last.

As he was about to walk away, Freddie noticed one picture towards the back. It was of Pam, but with two other girls that looked to be about seven years old. Both of the girls looked like Sam Puckett. No way...it was impossible! It had to be!

Freddie turned around and headed towards his room. Maybe exploring the house could wait another day. He needed to do something to clear his head. He grabbed his phone and called Sam, wondering if she had any plans.

* * *

Sam was looking at a picture of a new bunny they had at the pet store in downtown Seattle when her phone started ringing. She rolled her eyes as she answered. "What do you want, Fredhead?"

"_Nice to hear you, Sam."_ Freddie said sarcastically.

"The feeling is so not mutual. You never answered my question."

"_Right. What are you doing?"_

"Looking up bunnies. I think I'm going to buy one."

"_Are you allowed to?"_

"Eh, probably not, but since when have I cared?"

Freddie chuckled. "_Yeah...want to go hang out at Groovy Smoothie?"_

Sam popped her lips loudly. "I guess. Carly ditched me, might as well hang out with my last resort."

"_And oddly enough, I'm not offended."_

Sam smirked. "See you there in fifteen?"

"_Yeah and bring your own money!"_

"Like that'll happen." Sam said and hung up. She didn't want to hear Freddie starting to whine. She dialed a cab service and asked to be picked up. They would be here in five minutes.  
Sam heard the front door open and close. It was probably Frankie, going to go hang out with whoever his friends were.

* * *

Freddie walked inside the Groovy Smoothie and saw Sam there, already drinking a smoothie. It was her second one though. He sat down at the table with her. "How long have you been here?"

Sam pulled the straw out of her mouth. "Probably five minutes. Why?"

"I shouldn't be surprised then that you already had two smoothies."

Sam smirked. "You know me too well."

"Did you walk?"

"Nope, took a cab. I was not about to walk. I'm feeling way too tired today."

Freddie shook his head. "I don't understand what you're so tired of."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Of course you wouldn't. You're a dude."

"So you finally admit it!"

Sam glared at Freddie and the victorious look from his face instantly fell. While she was glaring at him, she started to see how much he and Steven looked alike. "Fredward, I've got a question."

"What is it?"

"How did your dad and Pam met?"

Freddie squinted his eyes trying to remember. "I think they met at a clinic. She was there for a check-up and they really hit it off."

Sam let out a relieved sigh. "Oh okay."

"But then he said her daughter called him a week later and said she was hit by...I think he said a train? So he thought she was dead, but then her daughter called him back again and said she wasn't really dead."

Sam pursed her lips in thought. This could not be happening.

"Why do you ask?"

"'Cause that's kind of how my mom and Steven met...except I said she was hit by a bus..."

Freddie's eyes widened. "You don't think...?"

"No! Don't even talk like that!" Sam angrily grabbed her smoothie and started drinking again. "Wait, what was your dad doing today?"

"He had to go to the hospital...what was Steven doing?"

Sam smiled, "He was hanging out at the house doing some work on his computer."

Freddie smiled too. "See, I knew it was impossible for something like _that_ to happen."

"Yeah. Well, I'm going to leave. See you Frederly."

"What? But I just got here? And you still have to pay for your smoothies!"

"No I don't, 'cause you got my back, right?" Sam said with a smirk as she walked out of the Groovy Smoothie.

Freddie shook his head. He grabbed the second smoothie Sam had left. It was only half-way done. "Might as well finish it since I'm paying for it." he muttered.

* * *

Sam had been home for a few hours. When she got home, she started looking for Steven to ask for some money, but he wasn't there. He must've left while she was gone. Sam mostly had been searching random things online, but had also started texting Carly. She looked at the time on her computer. It was ten at night. She lifted herself up from the bed. No one was home, so she might as well shower.

She gathered the things she needed and walked down the hallway to the restroom. She didn't notice her bra and underwear falling from her bundle of clothes right outside the bathroom door.

* * *

Freddie unlocked the front door to the house and walked inside. It was about ten thirty at night already. He would've been home sooner, but while he was leaving Groovy Smoothie he ran into Gibby. The two then headed down to the arcade and had spent the entire evening there. Gibby's mom drove Freddie home so he didn't have to walk in the dark.

He thought he heard the water running, but as he walked to his room, it stopped. There was no one home, so it was probably nothing. There were no cars in the driveway, so Freddie assumed there was no one home. Freddie thought it would be a great time to shower. Since no one was home, he stripped down to just his boxers, grabbed some clothes and walked down the hallway to the bathroom. Right in front of the door was a pair of underwear and a bra. He picked them up and looked at them in disgust. The underwear had 'I 3 Vegas' and the bra was covered in little red hearts.

His hand reached out for the door knob. He held the knob, but it started turning by itself and the door opened.

* * *

Sam finished her shower, feeling so much better. She loved taking showers now that the hot water, or the water in general, didn't run out. She thought she heard the front door open, but it was probably her imagination. She dried off her hair and wrapped the towel around her body. She started looking through her clothes for her undergarments, but they weren't there. She could've swore she brought them in the restroom with her.

She inwardly groaned, realizing she must've dropped it somewhere in the hallway. She just hoped no one still wasn't back as she opened the door to the bathroom.


	5. The Rules

A/N: You guys surprised me so much! I got more than twenty reviews! Thank you so much! That really made my day :) so I'm keeping my end of the deal and updating. Here's the new chapter! Really hope it lived up to your expectations. Any ideas for this story are welcome. If I think it'll help the story get to the ending I've got plan, then I'll definitely do my best to write it in. New chapter probably won't be up until sometime next week, maybe earlier if I get a lot of nice reviews...no promises this time though. So here it is. The chapter my faithful readers have been waiting for! Hope you like and if you do, leave a review!

* * *

The Rules

If there had been an angry mama bear behind that bathroom door, Freddie would've been so much more happier and he would've felt a hundred times more safe. On top of being happier and safer, it would be more believable. His mind could not fully comprehend who was standing in front of him in nothing but a wet towel. She looked just as surprised and shocked as he did.

Sam screamed and Freddie started screaming too as soon as they had gotten over the shock.

"Freddie?"

"Sam?"

"What the heck are you doing here?" Sam yelled.

"I _live_ here! What are you doing here?" Freddie yelled back.

"No, you can't live here! I live here!"

"Sam, I just told you that-!"

"You're such a perv! You _grabbed_ my underwear and bra?"

"They were on the floor and I didn't know who's they were!"

"You're still a perv!" Sam yelled as she grabbed them from his hands.

"Then you're a slob! You were the one leaving stuff _all_ over the floor in _my_ house!"

"This isn't your house!" Sam then dropped her undergarments again and shoved Freddie. "Get out!"

"Why me? Why don't you get out?" Freddie said as he dared to shove her.

He instantly regretted it as he saw a look on her face that she saved for only very special occasions, occasions where someone was being particularly mean to her or her friends. It was pshycotic almost. "Sam...Sam, don't-"

"Out! I want you out of here!" she yelled as she shoved him harder, managing to keep her towel still wrapped around her.

"Sam would you just stop and listen!" Freddie yelled as he continued backing away from Sam. His back hit the door. Freddie feared for his life as he tried looking for a route to escape.

"I want you to open that door and get out of my house!"

"This isn't even your house!"

Sam let out a growl as she shoved Freddie to the side, opened the door, then pushed him out, making him bump into two people standing on the doorstep. "I don't care what your excuse is, I never want you in here again!" Sam yelled as she slammed the door.

Freddie caught his breath as he looked at the two people on either side of him. Goosebumps appeared on his arms from only being in his boxers. "Um...Dad, Pam...hey,"

"What just happened in there?" Steven asked with a raised eyebrow.

As Freddie was about to answer, the door swung open. "You!" Sam yelled as she pointed at her mom. "How could you?"

"What did _I_ do?" Pam yelled back.

Sam groaned loudly as she grabbed Pam's hand and pulled her inside and slamming the door. Steven and Freddie were left standing on the porch step.

Freddie didn't dare look at his dad, knowing exactly what he was thinking.

"Why are you only in your boxers and why is Samantha in only a towel?"

Freddie cringed. Yup, Steven was thinking exactly what Freddie thought he would.

* * *

Pam managed to calm Sam down and opened the door for Freddie and Steven. Both teens were then sent to their rooms to put clothes on, but they had to go to the kitchen for a 'meeting' as Steven liked to call it.

There they were, Sam and Freddie sitting at the table while Pam and Steven leaned against the kitchen counter staring them down.

"I still can't believe you're dating dipwad's dad." Sam mumbled.

"And I can't believe you're dating the demon's mom." Freddie added.

"For your information, we're both adults and we can date whoever we want to." Pam said.

"Pam's right. It doesn't matter what you two think, we're dating."

Freddie and Sam stayed silent, still upset by the whole situation.

"Are you sure nothing happened between you two?" Steven asked for the umpteenth time.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Yes, Steven. Nothing happened. I wouldn't even want to do anything like that with Benson here."

"Gee, thanks for giving me a boost of my self-confidence." Freddie said sarcastically.

"Are you seriously trying to start something with me, Fredhead?" Sam yelled.

"Now I can't even say my mind?" Freddie yelled back.

"Enough!" Pam yelled.

The two quieted down, but still glared at each other.

"Sam, you need to knock it off. Freddie is going to be living here and nothing is going to change that." Pam said.

"You too, Freddie. I don't care how much you two hate each other, your both going to be living here as long as we're dating." Steven said.

"So if we somehow broke you two up-"

"Sam..." Pam said in a warning tone.

Sam closed her mouth and narrowed her eyes.

"Since you two are going to be sharing the same floor, I'm going to be asking only one thing for you two." Steven said as he crossed his arms. "Sam, I don't want you in Freddie's room and Freddie, I don't want you in Sam's room. The only time you're allowed in there is if one of us sends you in there to get the other. Understood?"

"Yes sir." Freddie mumbled.

Sam said nothing and just stared at the floor.

"Sam? Do you understand?"

Sam rolled her yes. "Yes, Steven, I do understand."

"So are we all good?" Pam asked, clapping her hands together.

Freddie and Sam looked up to glare. "What do you think?" Sam snapped.

Pam gave Sam a small hug. "I knew you'd understand. Now me and Steven are going upstairs to finish some...business." Pam said with a smirk as she started pulling Steven up the stairs.

"Pam, don't you think-" Steven started to protest.

"Don't worry, Steven! They'll be just fine."

Freddie and Sam stayed in the kitchen after Pam and Steven left. "What do you think they're-"

"Don't even go there, Benson." Sam warned.

Freddie closed his eyes and sighed. "Well...I'm going to be...going..." Freddie said awkwardly as he stood up. He gave Sam a weird wave as he walked off to his room.

Sam slowly stood up from the chair and headed outside to the backyard. She sat on the porch swing and rested her chin on her knees. Things were definitely going to be even more interesting now.

* * *

Freddie had gone and taken a shower like he originally planned to, but he didn't enjoy it as much. Now he was in his room staring up at his ceiling. This couldn't be happening. His dad was dating her mom? And now they had to live under the _same_ roof? Freddie could barely tolerate her when she was at Carly's!

He got off his bed and grabbed his sweater. He needed some fresh air to think and the porch swing in the backyard would be the perfect place. He went into the kitchen and out the back door, turning on the outside light before closing it.

"Geez, Benson! Blind me, why don't you!"

Freddie jumped a little in surprise when he saw Sam on the porch swing. She was shielding her eyes from the bright light. "Oh...sorry, I didn't think you'd be out here."

"Yeah well...I am...I needed to think." Sam said as she brought her sweater closer to her and stared out at the massive backyard. It was starting to get a bit more chilly.

"Sam Puckett thinks?" Freddie teased.

"Shut up." she grumbled.

Freddie chuckled to himself, having won a point in their never-ending word war. He had 58 points, she had 3,769,985 points. He took a seat on the other end of the swing, beginning to move it gently.

"So what are you doing out here?" Sam asked after a moment of silence. "Thought you'd be on the phone with your mom, telling her how many ticks you found on your body."

Freddie rolled his eyes. "No, I came out here to think."

"Freddie Benson thinks?" Sam said, mocking his previous tone.

"I set myself up for that one."

"Anyways...I'm pretty sure you came out to think about the same thing as I did." Sam said, resting her chin on her knees.

"Our parents." Freddie stated.

They both shivered simultaneously.

"Parents really shouldn't date." Freddie said.

"Yeah. They're way too old for it and it's just sick after thirty."

"And they shouldn't move in with each other either!"

"What were they thinking? Don't they know we hate each other!"

"Yeah," Sam said after a half beat of hesitation.

Freddie gave her an odd look, but blew it off. "So what are we supposed to do?"

"Well I like it here. You can just move back with your mom." Sam said.

"No way. I am not moving all the way to a completely different city. And I like it better than the apartments too."

"Even though you can't spy on Carly through your peep hole?" Sam taunted.

"I stopped doing that a long time ago."

"Oh, so you just installed security cameras in her room to watch her?" Sam smirked.

"No, Sam. I didn't do any of those things. I'm actually over her." Freddie said in a smug tone.

"Really?" Sam asked, her interest piqued.

"Yeah. But anyways, back to the subject at hand..."

"I'm going to be living here and you're going to be living here too."

"And there's nothing we can change about it."

Sam sighed. "First rule; we tell _no one_. Especially Carly."

"What happened to not keeping things from each other?" Freddie asked with a frown.

"This is different." Sam said.

"How-"

"It just is!"

"Fine. Second rule; stay out of each other's business and respect the other person's privacy."

"I shower at night, so I don't want you being a creep and trying to go in while I'm showering." Sam said.

"I wouldn't do that!"

"Sure seemed like that's what you were doing earlier!"

"I didn't even know we were living together! And you left your underwear and bra outside the bathroom!"

"And you picked them up to stare?"

"I wasn't staring!"

Sam punched Freddie's arm. "Just shut up! We need to finish the rules now."

"No pulling pranks on me."

"That one's unfair." Sam said with a pout.

"You can prank me all you want outside of the house, but don't do anything to me _inside_ the house. Knowing my dad, he wouldn't like it."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Your dad's such a nub. Just like you."

Freddie shook his eyes. Retaliating wouldn't be worth it. "Anything else you can think of?"

"Other than the fact that _no one_ can ever find out about this?"

"Right."

"Nope. I can't think of anything else."

"Good. I think I can agree to those rules."

"Yeah, I guess I can to."

Freddie held out his hand to shake on it, and Sam took it. She squeezed a little harder than necessary and Freddie winced.

Sam smirked as she let go of his hand. "I'm going to sleep. Night Freward." she said as she got up from the swing and went inside.

Freddie watched her go inside before looking at the backyard again. He had a feeling things were going to start changing between them. He didn't know how to feel about that.

* * *

Freddie opened his eyes when he heard his phone vibrating. He shut them again, wondering who in the world was texting him this early. He grabbed his phone. It was eleven in the morning. So maybe it wasn't as early as he thought. The message was from his mom.  
_  
Freddiebear, you better be awake already and dressed. I hope your room is clean too. You didn't call me last night! Did something happen? I'm about to call you right now on the house phone. You had better answer!_

Freddie groaned slightly as he got up and put on a shirt. He walked out of his room the same time Sam was coming out.

"Morning, Freddie." she mumbled, still looking half-asleep. Her hair was a wild mess and she didn't have any make-up on. Freddie's mind noticed something, but he quickly pushed the thought out. The thought being that Sam still look very nice without make-up on or her hair fixed up.

"Morning to you too, Sam." he said as he walked down the hallway towards the kitchen while she headed towards the bathroom. Pam and Steven were in the kitchen sitting at the table.

"It's about time you got up. It's late." Steven said to Freddie.

"I didn't fall asleep right away." Freddie answered. He grabbed some milk in a glass and started drinking.

Sam came out from the bathroom a few moments later. "Morning people." she grumbled. She grabbed the milk carton and drank straight from the spout.

"Sam, how many times do I have to tell you to drink from a cup!" Pam exclaimed.

Freddie stared at his own glass of milk. "You did that yesterday, didn't you?"

Sam smirked as she looked at him. "I sure did."

"Sam, it'd be very considerate to drink from a glass instead." Steven said.

"Since when have I been considerate?" Sam shot back.

The phone started ringing before Steven could say anything.

"I got!" Freddie exclaimed as he reached over for the phone that was right next to Sam.

Sam managed to grab it before Freddie could and answered it. "Hello?"

"_Hello? Is Freddie there?"_

Sam smirked as soon as she realized who it was. "Yeah he's here, but he's kind of occupied at the moment."

"Come on, Sam. Give me the phone." Freddie whined.

"_What is he doing? And who am I talking to?"_

Sam started walking out of the kitchen with Freddie trailing behind her. "Sam, give me the phone!" Freddie pleaded.

"Freddie's getting dressed. And you're talking to none other than Sam Puckett." Sam said with a wide grin as she turned around to look at Freddie.

"_What!"_

Sam held the phone away from her ear as Marissa started yelling.

"Sam!" Freddie exclaimed as he finally snatched the phone from Sam's hands. "Mom?"

"_Freddie Benson! Why is a girl answering the phone? Why is _that _girl answering the phone!"_

Freddie glared at Sam. "Thanks for getting me in trouble." he muttered towards Sam.

Sam patted Freddie's head. "Any time." she said before turning around and heading back into the kitchen.

"Mom? Mom, just let me explain...no we didn't do anything like that!"

* * *

Sam opened the door to Freddie's room and laid down on his bed. Freddie was at his desk finishing up some weekend homework. He turned around to look at Sam. "What are you doing in here?"

"I'm bored." she answered.

"Remember what my dad said?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Your dad doesn't know how we are. He doesn't know that we wouldn't do anything bad like he's assuming. Besides, since when have I been one to follow rules."

"Speaking of rules, I think we should add another one to the list."

"What is it?"

"_Don't_ answer the phone when it's my mom calling. She totally flipped out and threatened to fly down here to be sure you really weren't here."

Sam chuckled to herself. "I love to mess with your mom."

Freddie shook his head as he turned around in his chair to completely face Sam. "Just don't do it anymore, please?"

"Fine, I won't do it since it upsets the mama's boy _so_ much." Sam said as she sat up and leaned against his headboard. "What are you doing?"

"Just finished some homework that's due tomorrow."

"We had homework? Which class?"

"For Mr. Joyner's. We had to write a paragraph about James Madison."

"Oh, I'll probably take yours or Carly's, change a few words, then turn it in."

"Sam, why don't you just do it yourself?"

"Uh, because that involves effort." she said bluntly.

Freddie shook his head as he handed Sam his paper and a spiral and pencil. "Might as well get it done on time."

"Thanks nub." she said as she took it and started to copy it.

"So what are you going to tell Carly when she realizes you finished something _before_ the deadline?"

"That I copied from you."

"How did you get my copy?"

"I took it from you at the Groovy Smoothie."

"Sam, what if she started getting suspicious."

"How is she going to get suspicious?"

"Well, she's going to come over eventually, either to see you or me. What is the other person supposed to do then?"

"Don't worry about it Freddie! We'll deal with it when the time comes." Sam said as she pulled out a bar of chocolate that had been in her pocket.

Freddie sighed. "Whatever you say, Puckett." Freddie still felt uneasy about the whole thing. Anything could go wrong, and in all probability, something would go wrong. He just didn't know how crazy things were about to get.


	6. The Outburst

A/N: I said I was going to update before the end of this week and where I live, I am meeting this deadline. I may be cutting it close, but I got it up! Enjoy this new chapter my loyal readers! Thank you all for the great reviews and after you finish reading this chapter, leave a great review! Thoughts, comments, all are appreciated. The next chapter should be up next week.

* * *

The Outburst

"Breakfast is on the table!"

Sam's eyes flew open when she heard those words being yelled by Steven. She quickly got out of bed, changed, brushed her hair, and put on a little bit of make-up. She went to the bathroom, brushed her teeth and practically ran to the kitchen. She had gotten ready for school within ten minutes.

Freddie was already at the table enjoying a plate of eggs. He looked at Sam with a smirk, then looked over at his dad. "Told you that trick would get her out of bed."

Sam glowered. "Don't even think about starting with me this early, Benson."

"You want some eggs or pancakes?" Steven asked, ignoring the signs of an upcoming word spar.

"Both would be awesome." Sam answered sitting in the chair across from Freddie. "Where's my mom?"

"She doesn't feel too good this morning. She's going to stay home from work." Steven answered.

"What's wrong with her?" Sam's mouth was already full of food.

"I don't know. She might've caught a stomach bug. First thing she did this morning was throw up." Steven answered as he sat in between them with a cup of coffee.

Sam frowned as soon as she swallowed her food. She may not like her mother, but that didn't mean she couldn't be worried about her.

"Do you think it's contagious?" Freddie asked.

"Aw, is wittle Fweddie afwaid of getting sick?" Sam taunted in a baby voice.

"No, I just can't miss any school and my mom would flip if she found out I was sick." Freddie shot back.

"Oh yeah. She'd fly down in a heartbeat and take care of her little _Freddiebear_."

"At least my mom would take care of me if I'm sick!" Freddie shot back.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Sam yelled as she stood up.

"Hey!" Steven yelled, getting their attention. "Both of you calm down and stop yelling." he ordered. "Just stop teasing each other. Pam's trying to get some sleep. Now hurry up and finish your breakfast so I can drop you two off at school."

They finished off the rest of their breakfast in silence and Steven drove them to school.

"Me and Freddie have a deal where I get dropped off in the front and then you drive a block to drop him off." Sam said as soon as Steven stopped in front of the school.

"What? That is so not..."

Sam turned around to glare at Freddie before he could finish the protest.

"Why did you make that agreement?" Steven asked.

"Because...we don't like walking in together." Freddie answered awkwardly.

Sam rolled her eyes at his lame excuse. "Thanks for the ride, Steven. I'm going to walk home. You can pick up the nub if you want to." Sam said as she stepped out of the car and slammed the door.

Steven waved bye then started driving until he reached the end of the block. "You two have to be the most complicated kids I've ever known." Steven said to Freddie.

"Being friends with Sam Puckett can make anyone a complicated person." Freddie said. "I'm going to walk home too. I might go over to Carly's first though."

"Give me a call and don't be home too late." Steven said as Freddie got out of the car.

Freddie nodded his head and waved bye to his dad as he drove away. Freddie started walking briskly towards the school before the tardy bell could ring on him. He walked inside the building with three minutes to spare. He went towards Sam and Carly's lockers, deciding to put his backpack away after class. "Good morning ladies."

"Hi Freddie." Carly greeted with a wide smile.

"Gross Fredhead. You smell like sweat." Sam said with a scowl. "Didn't your dad drop you off at the front of the building?" the scowl was replaced with a smirk.

Freddie bit back several rude comments. "I actually had him drop me off at the end of the block."

"And you ran the rest of the way?"

"I was walking briskly!"

Carly and Sam started laughing. "Why didn't you have your dad drop you off in front?" Carly asked.

"Because...I felt like walking."

Carly shook her head at Freddie while Sam had a knowing smirk on her face. The three started walking to their homeroom. "So have you met Frankie yet?" Carly asked.

"Yeah I did." Sam answered.

"What do you think of him?" Freddie asked with a smug expression.

Sam narrowed her eyes. "I think he's a total dork. He's worse than your average nerd. And he smells like tapioca pudding." Sam continued glaring at Freddie, daring him to say something.

Carly started laughing. "Sounds gross. At least he isn't here to hear you say all that stuff. You were nice to him right?"

"Maybe. You know I've shut the hot water off on him once. He freaked out and thought the water heater was messing up."

"Sam! Why did you do that?" Freddie exclaimed as they walked into their classroom.

"Because I can and he can't do anything about it because he doesn't know about it!"

"Yeah, but-!"

"Why are you two acting so weird?"

Sam and Freddie turned around to look at Carly. "What do you mean?" they asked simultaneously.

"It's just...you two have been acting weird this entire morning. You guys don't usually start acting weird until later on in the day and that's depending on what they're serving for lunch. You aren't hiding anything from me, right?"

Before Freddie or Sam could make up an excuse, their teacher walked into the classroom. "Good morning class. I hope everyone is ready because we are going to have a pop quiz!"

* * *

Sam pulled out her phone as she walked into the neighborhood and dialed Carly's number.

"_Hey Sam. You just left the apartment an hour ago. Did you forget to tell me something?"_

Sam smiled as she adjusted her new purchase in her arms. "Not really. Is the nub there?"

"_No, Freddie's dad picked him up a few minutes after you left. What's up?"_

"Guess what I just bought!"

"_Please tell me it isn't something illegal."_

"Of course not! Guess!"

"_Um...a package of fat cakes."_

"No, but that would be just as awesome."

Carly laughed. "_I don't know. What is it?"_

"A baby bunny!"

"_You bought another one? Didn't you lose Rusty Dusty last week?"_

"Yes to both questions. I'm really going to take good care of this one. He won't get lost at all."

"_Did you even ask Steven?"_

"I don't need his permission. He isn't going to find out about him anyways."

"_If you say so...what are you going to name this one?"_

"Probably Willie."

"_Willie?"_

"Yeah! After Willie Nelson!"

"_You like him? Isn't he like super old?"_

"He's got some really good music! Anyways, I've got to go. I'm already at my house and I'm pretty sure Steven is going to start grilling me for some answers. Catch you later Carly." Sam hung up the phone before walking inside. "I'm home!" she called out. There was no response. She knew people were there because both cars were outside. She assumed Pam and Steven were somewhere in the house and Freddie was in his room.

Sam walked down the hall and into her room. She set Willie down on her bed. "Stay here while I go get something. I'll be right back." she said to the bunny. She quickly stepped out of her room and opened the door to Freddie's room. "Freddie, guess what!"

Freddie looked up from his computer. "What are you doing in here again?" he asked with a whine.

Sam rolled her eyes as she walked towards him and yanked him up from his bed. "I want to show you something! Now come here."

"But Sam, I don't want to see whatever it is that you want to show me!" Freddie protested as Sam pulled him into her room.

Freddie grimaced as he walked into her room. "I knew you're room would be a disaster area."

"Shut up Benson."

"Sam, you know I'm not allowed in your room." Freddie pointed out.

"Just look at what I got then you can leave since you're such a good-two-shoes." Sam picked up Willie and held him out for Freddie to hold. "Fredweird, meet Willie. My new bunny."

Freddie grabbed Willie and held him out. He raised an eyebrow. "Does my dad know you bought this?"

"Well...maybe...?"

"Sam, he's going to get upset and then-"

"Freddie? What are you doing in here?"

Freddie spun around and Steven was standing in the doorway.

"Uh...Dad! I was just-!"

Steven cut Freddie off. "Is that a new bunny?"

"It sure is!" Sam said as she stood next to him. "Freddie bought it for me. Isn't he the cutest?"

Steven looked from Sam to Freddie. "Why didn't you ask me for permission?"

"What? But I didn't-!"

"Tomorrow you're returning it."

"Aw, Steven! I already named him though. You can't make Freddie return it!" Sam whined. "I named him Willie!"

Steven raised his eyebrows. "After Willie Nelson?"

"Yeah! Isn't he the best?"

"Yes he is." Steven said with a smile.

Freddie pursed his lip. "So...am I still in trouble?"

Steven turned his attention back to Freddie. "Yes. Sam can keep the bunny, since you did buy it for her and she did name it Willie. But you're grounded for the rest of the week."

"What? Dad, that's unfair!"

"Don't tell me what's unfair. I'll show you unfair next time you say that. I want home right after school ends. No going to Groovy Smoothie or Carly's house."

"But-!"

"Don't make me call your mother."

"Yes sir." Freddie said quickly as he hung his head.

"Good. I'm going down to the pharmacy to get Pam some medicine. I'll be right back."

"She still isn't feeling good?"

Steven shook his head. "I don't know what she caught. And Freddie, I want you out of Sam's room. You know the rules."

Steven walked away, leaving Freddie and Sam in the room. Freddie shoved the bunny back into Sam's arms. "Nice one! You got me in trouble!"

"I know. I was right here when it happened." Sam said with a smirk.

"Sam!"

"What?"

"Why are you constantly doing this to me?"

"Who else would I do this to?" she asked as she set Willie down in the cage with Rusty Dusty.

Freddie shook his head. "I'm leaving before I somehow get into more trouble."

"Don't leave just yet! I want you to watch Rusty Dusty and Willie interact for a bit." Sam said as she sat on her bed.

"Why would I want to watch?"

"Because Carly would usually be the one to do it, but since it's too late to have her come over, you're my last resort. Now get over here and watch." Sam growled.

Freddie groaned as he walked to her bed and sat next to her. They watched the bunnies in silence for a few moments. "So what are they supposed to be doing?" Freddie asked after a bit.

"They interacting, nub."

"It just looks like they're eating lettuce."

"That's their way of interacting!"

"Why do you even like bunnies so much?"

Sam smiled thoughtfully. "It's a long story."

"Well I don't have any homework and I know you're not going to your homework, so why don't you share?"

Sam turned to look at him with a scowl. "When I said that, I meant I didn't want to tell you. Haven't you ever heard of reading between the lines?"

"Why not?"

"I just don't want to!" Sam yelled, punching his arm in the process.

Freddie rubbed his arm. "Ow! Sam, I'm just asking a simple question!"

"No, you're trying to find out stuff about me! You don't need to know anything about me!"

"Excuse me for trying to be a friend!"

Sam rolled her eyes and went back to looking at her new pets. "I'll tell you eventually. I'm just not in the mood to talk about it." Sam muttered.

Freddie gave her an odd look, but didn't question her. He wasn't about to get punched again.

The door opened, revealing Pam who was in the doorway. She was in her bathroom and pajamas and really did look sick. "Sam, you know where..." she stopped in mid-sentence when she finally realized Freddie was there. "What is he doing in here?"

Freddie stood up immediately. "Pam! I mean, Ms. Puckett! We weren't doing anything! I was just-"

"Chill Mom. We were just watching Rusty and Willie, my new bunny. How are you feeling?"

"Sam, I know Steven made a rule that he wasn't allowed in here."

"Mom, we're friends! We aren't going to-"

"Yeah, you start out like 'friends' then move on to 'friends with benefits'. After becoming 'friends with benefits' you end up pregnant with twins! Sure, he'll stick around for a while, but then he'll just take off like everyone else! But that's not all! You end up making another 'friend' and move in with him and right after you move in, you end up getting sick and you start thinking you're going to be sick like this for nine freaking months!"

Freddie and Sam both took a few steps away from each other. "What are you talking about?" Sam asked with a raised eyebrow.

Pam sniffled. "Nothing." she said softly. A second later, she burst into tears. "I'm sorry. I didn't...I know you wouldn't do anything like that. Freddie, go to your room."

"Um...yes ma'am." Freddie said as he quickly stepped out of the room and went into his.

"Mom, are you okay?" Sam asked.

Pam wiped her eyes. "Yes, but you're grounded."

"What? Mom, you can't-!"

"Sam! Grounded! The rest of the week! You aren't going anywhere except for here and school! And school's pushing it!" Pam yelled as if she hadn't been crying seconds before.

Sam threw a glare at Pam. "Fine!"

"Good!" Pam said. With that being said, or yelled really, Pam closed the door and Sam could hear her going back upstairs.

Sam let out a loud groan as she fell face first on to her bed. She hadn't been there for a minute before her phone started ringing. She groaned again when she saw it was Freddie. "What do you want?"

"_So I heard you just got grounded."_ Freddie said smugly.

"Oh shut it. You're grounded to."

"_Yeah...this sucks."_

"You have no idea. We need a new rule."

"_What?"_

"Don't get each other grounded."

"_But I didn't even get you grounded!"_

"Fine. Then how about we try and get the other out of trouble when they're about to be grounded."

_"And no instigating trouble."_

"Right. So is it on the rules list now?"

"_Yeah, I guess it is."_

"Sweet."

"_So why did your mom freak out like that? I didn't think she would really care."_

"She _shouldn't_ have cared. I think something's really wrong with her."

"_Do you think that maybe-"_

"Don't you dare suggest something like that! It couldn't happen."

"_Sam, you don't even know what I was going to say."_

"No, but I can assume and I really don't want you saying what's wrong with my mom. She just has a virus."

"_Right, a virus that gives her emotional outbursts like the one we just saw."_

"Or she could just be having a super bad period."

Freddie didn't say anything for a few seconds. "_Sam, I so did not need to know that."_

Sam smirked. "I know. I'm hanging up now. I'm going to spend some quality time with my bunnies."

"_See you whenever I do, then."_

"Yeah. Night Fredward."

"_Night Sam."_

Sam hung up and put her phone to charge. She got up and pulled Rusty and Willie out of their cage. As she watched them hop around, she wondered silently what could possibly be wrong with her mom.


	7. The Visitor

A/N: Here you go folks. The next chapter. And I've got a question for you...should Pam be pregnant? I know I'm the author and I should know these things, but I kind of don't...it could honestly go either way. So tell me what you guys think! Ideas are always welcome! I'm going to put a poll up in my profile concerning Pam and being pregnant, so be sure to vote! I'm going to make a deal with you guys again. Give me twenty-five reviews this time and I'll update tomorrow (Saturday)! What do you say? Sound fair? Either way, I hope you enjoy this new chapter and tell me what you think!

* * *

The Visitor

"Sam, she could've meant anything by it." Freddie said for the eighth time. They were walking to school today since Steven had to go to work early. Pam was still feeling sick and hadn't woken up yet. All morning, Sam had been going on about what Pam yelled at her last night.

"Freddie, when you've known my mom as long as I have, you know she doesn't say anything like that unless it's for a reason."

"Okay, so maybe it was really weird, but you don't have to freak out!"

"Well I am! She can't do something like that to me!"

"What if she just really is having a bad...period...like you said and she's over reacting?"

Sam sighed. "Maybe...I just don't want to think about it. New subject!"

Freddie was about to comment that she was the one to bring it up, but he wanted to get to school without any incidents today. "Um...so how's Willie?"

"Just as boring as Rusty. I swear, Rusty Dusty can be a bad influence on any bunny. Willie was so active at the pet store and once he hung out with Rusty, all he did was eat and sleep."

Freddie laughed. "Next time you go to the pet store, you should buy a ferret. Those are fun animals."

"I should, shouldn't I? Next week, let's go and you can pay for it!"

"Are you nuts? I am not going to buy you a pet and I am not going to get into trouble again!"

"Where's your sense of adventure, Fredweiner!"

Freddie just rolled his eyes as they walked into school. "I do have a sense of adventure, just not for things that'll get me in trouble!"

"You're such a dork!"

"Better than being a demon!"

"Yeah? Well you get it from your dad!"

"And you get it from your mom!"

"At least I don't wear bow ties to work!"

"That was his first time wearing one!"

"Uh...guys? You're kind of drawing a crowd." Carly said as she approached them.

Sam and Freddie stopped yelling and looked around. Sure enough, there was a small crowd of people gathered at the end of the hall, watching in silence.

"Get out of here! Show's over!" Sam yelled at them.

The students quickly scurried away. The trio walked to Sam and Carly's locker.

"Why are you guys already yelling at each other anyways? Isn't it still a little early?" Carly asked as she put away her bag.

"Not really. I've already seen him for a whole hour today, so it's about time we start yelling at each other." Sam said flippantly. She went to her locker and started putting stuff away. She dug around until she found a bag of beef jerky.

Carly frowned and Freddie quickly looked away, knowing he might say something he wasn't supposed to. "What do you mean you've seen Freddie for a whole hour?"

Sam turned to Carly with a calm expression. "Oh I forgot to tell you?"

Freddie, who was standing behind Carly, was signaling for Sam to stop. What was she thinking? They agreed not to tell Carly anything! He actually preferred not letting her know too.

Sam smirked, knowing Freddie was having a freak attack. "Yeah, the craziest thing happened. It turns out that his dad and my mom-"

"They're dating! Oh my gosh! I knew it!" Carly cut in.

"Ew, gross. No they're not." Sam quickly said.

Freddie felt his breath leave him. What was Sam doing? Where was she going with this?

"No, his dad actually knows the guy my mom is dating and my mom knows the lady Freddie's dad is dating." Sam finished. "So this morning Steven drove me over to Freddie's place for breakfast since he had to go to work and my mom wasn't feeling good. I walked with Freddie to school."

"Um..." Carly bit her lip as she tried to understand what Sam told her. It didn't line up for some reason. "Sure...?"

"I knew you'd understand." Sam said with a smile.

"Wait. You said you 'knew it'? Did you really think our parents were dating?" Freddie asked. He was surprised at how calmly he was handling the situation. Just like Sam had been handling it.

"Well...kind of. I mean they're dating people with the same name. You can't blame me for assuming that was the case."

Freddie and Sam glanced at each other. If Carly already thought their parents were dating, who else thought so too?

* * *

School ended with little to tell. Except for Sam throwing a ball at Freddie's face and making his nose bled during gym class. She claimed it was an accident and, in usual Sam fashion, got away with it. They walked out of their final classes and met up by the stairwell.

"So I think I came up with a new sketch for iCarly, but it needs a little tweaking. You guys want to come over and work on it?" Carly asked.

"Right now?" Freddie asked.

"No, I think she means the day before Christmas." Sam said sarcastically.

Freddie rolled his eyes. "Whatever Puckett. But I can't go. I've got an AV club meeting."

"Don't you mean League of the Dorks meeting?" Sam asked with a smirk.

Once again he rolled his eyes. "Plus I'm grounded. I've got to go straight home."

"Wow, you got grounded? What did you do?" Carly asked. It was a rare occasion Freddie would get grounded.

"He bought his new housemate an animal without asking his daddy." Sam mischievously answered.

Freddie glared at Sam.

"You bought Samantha a pet? That's so sweet of you!"

"I didn't buy her a pet! She bought it, then blamed it on me." Freddie gave Sam a pointed look the entire time.

"That kind of sounds like something Sam would do..." Carly said a bit thoughtfully.

"I can come over." Sam said before Carly could think anymore.

"Great. We'll-"

"Sam's grounded too!" Freddie said before they could walk outside.

"So?"

"Sam! What did you do?"

"She had Frankie in her room and her mom freaked out."

"I thought you didn't like Frankie and why did your mom freak out so much?"

"I don't like him, I just didn't have anyone else to bother. And I don't know why my mom freaked out so much. Something's going on with her, but I don't know what."

"Either way, you still can't go over to Carly's." Freddie said.

"Joy killer." Sam sneered

Freddie shook his head. "I'll catch up with you guys later. I'm going to be late." he said as he started walking backwards.

"Oh yeah, I forgot Benson has perfect attendance for everything, which just makes him an even bigger nub!" Sam yelled out.

Freddie just made a face at her before turning around and jogging off to his club meeting.

Sam and Carly walked outside. "What if you came over? I want to show you my new place!" Sam said.

"I don't know...I need to let Spencer know and it kind of is last minute..."

"Come on, Carls. Please?"

Carly sighed. "Fine. But I've still got to call Spencer and let him know.

* * *

Sam and Carly were hanging out in Sam's room. Spencer had given Carly permission as long as she promised not to tell Granddad he almost set the couch on fire. Carly was just glad she hadn't been home when it happened.

"So what do you think is better. Pineapples or potatoes?" Sam asked.

Carly laughed, looking up from the magazine she had been flipping through. "You already asked me that question like five minutes ago."

"Well I'm asking it again cause' I forgot."

"Pineapples, but potatoes when they're cooked with oregano."

"Mmm. That sounds amazing." Sam mumbled.

Carly put down the magazine she had been looking at. "So Sam...any new developments with your crush?"

* * *

Freddie unlocked the front door to the house. He rubbed his eyes as he walked in and headed to his room. He was tired. Today's AV meeting had been especially long since Sean had been arguing the entire time with whoever said anything. He went into the kitchen to find something to eat for dinner. There was a plate of meatloaf with green beans and corn. Freddie grimaced at the thought of eating green beans, but then remembered his mom wasn't here to shove them down his throat.

He put the plate in the microwave and waited around. Once the food was ready, he grabbed the plate and headed to his room. As he past Sam's room, he heard voices. He paused at her door and realized it was Sam and Carly.

Freddie felt his hands beginning to sweat. Why didn't she tell him Carly was here? Besides, was Carly even allowed over since they were grounded?

"So Sam...any new developments with your crush?" Freddie heard Carly ask.

Freddie frowned. He didn't know Sam had a crush. The only guy she really paid attention to was himself, but that was only to cause him pain. Sure, there was also Gibby, but that was only when she was in the mood to give someone a wedgie. Wait, _could_ her crush be Gibby?

"Carly, don't you dare try and bring this up." Sam said in a threatening voice.

Freddie quickly darted to his room and put the plate on his dresser. The food would have to wait. Sam and Carly's conversation seemed so much more interesting. Yes, it was eavesdropping and if either of them found out, he'd be dead, but he really wanted to hear what they had to say.

* * *

"But all we're talking about is food! I want to talk about something else and I really like this subject." Carly said with a huge grin.

Sam made a face. "Fine, but he isn't my crush!"

"Yes he is."

"No he isn't. All I said was that he was starting to look cute now." Sam looked up at her ceiling. "I'm never going to play truth or dare with you ever again." she mumbled.

Carly smirked. "Either way, you said he looks cute now."

"Big deal. I think a lot of guys are cute and I don't go around crushing on them."

"Sam Puckett that is the biggest lie! You don't think just any guy is cute. This guy has to be something really special. I've only know two, well now three, guys that you thought were _really_ cute. And whenever you think a guy is cute, you start getting a huge crush on them!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Carly, drop it. I don't want to have to hurt you, but I will if you don't stop."

"Just admit it Sam! You have a crush on-"

Sam held up her hand for Carly to stop. She sniffed the air. "Do you smell that?"

"Smell what? Don't try and change the subject, Sam!"

"No seriously! It smells like meatloaf."

* * *

Freddie couldn't believe it. How could Sam not tell him she had a crush on someone! She always told him...no, them whenever she had a crush on someone.

"Carly, drop it. I don't want to have to hurt you, but I will if you don't stop."

"Just admit it Sam! You have a crush on-"

Freddie didn't hear Carly anymore. Freddie wondered if Sam covered her face with a pillow.

"Do you smell that?" he heard Sam say after a moment.

Freddie smelled the air. The only thing he smelled was his meatloaf and...oh chiz.

"Smell what? Don't try and change the subject, Sam."

"No seriously! It smells like meatloaf."

She couldn't have smelled his meatloaf. It was in a completely different room. But then again it was Sam...

"Maybe it's your mom?"

"No, my mom is upstairs sick...wait here." Sam said.

Freddie's mind was yelling at him to run, but he just stayed there, crouched in front of Sam's door, frozen. He knew he should've written out a will already.

* * *

Sam opened the door and her mouth dropped in shock. She turned around quickly to make sure Carly didn't see. Carly was looking at the magazine again. "Be right back, Carls!" Sam said in a tight voice. Sam stepped out and quickly shut the door before Carly could see. "What are you doing?" Sam hissed as she yanked Freddie up.

"I...uh...I dropped my pencil!" Freddie whispered loudly.

"That only works during school!" Sam used the same tone as Freddie and punched his arm. "Were you listening to our conversation?"

"Umm..."

"Don't ever listen to my private conversations!" Sam started punching his arm again.

"Well why didn't you tell me Carly was here? She isn't supposed to be here anyways since you're grounded!"

"Sam? Who are you talking to?" Carly asked from the other side of the door.

"No one!" Sam replied as she quickly grabbed the door knob to prevent Carly from opening the door.

"Sam, your door isn't opening...are you holding the door knob?"

"Get out of here!" Sam hissed to Freddie.

"But-!"

"Sam, Freddie? What's going on?" Steven asked as he walked into the hallway.

Sam let go of the door knob and hid her hands behind her back. "Nothing!" they both chimed.

Sam's door swung open and Carly came out. "Sam, what are you...Freddie? What are you doing here?"

Freddie and Sam quickly exchanged glances. "Um..."


	8. The Concern

A/N: New chapter! Just like I promised! You guys are great, honestly. Thank you so much for the reviews! But just one thing I think I should let you people know...I'm going to be leaving sometime next week for Christmas vacation, visiting some family and an orphanage in Mexico (I'm super excited!). I don't know if I'm going to put up a new chapter before I leave, but just in case I don't, the next chapter will definitely be up sometime during the second week of January. So everyone have a great Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/or whatever holiday you celebrate this time of the year! Be cool and leave a review and also let me know about Pam being pregnant! The poll is now up on my profile. So yeah...enjoy the new chapter!

* * *

  
The Concern

Sam desperately tried to think something up. She would let Freddie say something, but knowing him, he would say the first rambling thought that came to his mind.

"My dad just came by to pick me up. Sam took one of my USB's to let Frankie use it." Freddie said to Carly after realizing Sam was still trying to figure out what to say. "I heard you guys talking so I just decided to get it myself."

Sam hid her surprise at Freddie's excuse. He came up with one before she could. She was going to have to congratulate him on that afterwards. "Yeah! Frankie needed a USB and Freddie, being the nerd he is, had one on hand!"

"What are you guys talking about?" Steven asked with a frown.

"Oh Mr. Benson you're so funny!" Sam said as she started laughing loudly. She elbowed Freddie in the ribs and he joined in her laughing.

Carly furrowed her eyebrows. "What...?"

"Good, you're back." Pam came downstairs in pajamas and a bathrobe. She leaned over and gave Steven a short kiss on his cheek, ignoring the three kids. "You bring the medicine?" she grabbed the plastic store bag Steven had been holding and began looking through it.

"Ms. Puckett?"

Pam looked up at Carly. "When did she get here?" she asked while yawning. "You come in with Freddie? Oh, before I forget; Freddie, your mom keeps calling the house. Tell her to knock it off before I cut the land line."

Carly turned to look at Sam and Freddie. Both of them were looking down at some invisible stain on the floor.

"Pam honey, I think we better go upstairs. Looks like these kids have some explaining to do." Steven said as he started leading Pam upstairs.

Carly cleared her throat. "Well?"

Freddie and Sam finally looked up at Carly. "It was Sam's idea." Freddie said before Sam could blame him.

"What? No, it-!"

"Yes it was! You were the one to bring it up and we both ended up agreeing on it!"

"Whatever happened to rule number five? 'Don't get the other person in trouble'?"

"It was just concerning our parents." Freddie said as he crossed his arms smugly.

Sam started growling. "Did we ever _officially_ put in that clause?"

"Yes we did. You were the one-"

"Hello? I'm still here!" Carly yelled. "What are you guys talking about anyways?"

They looked back at Carly. "Just...something we came up with..." Sam said.

Carly crossed her arms. "Care to explain what's really going on with your parents?"

Freddie sighed as he started to explain, knowing Sam wasn't going to say anything. "Our parents are dating and so we have to live together. We came up with a list of rules after we found out and one of the rules was...we don't tell you or anyone else...it was actually the first rule on the list."

"I can't believe you'd come up with a rule like that! I can't believe you came up with a _list_ of rules either! Why didn't you want to tell me?"

"Because we knew you might end up blowing things way out of proportion." Sam said.

"What? I wouldn't do that! Me? Blow things out of proportion! How could I possibly blow this thing out of proportion? My two best friends are living together!"

Sam rolled her eyes.

"And you're blowing this out of proportion." Freddie said with a huff of air.

"Am not!"

"Yes you are." Sam said bluntly.

"Fine. But I'm happy for you guys." she said with a huge smile.

Sam and Freddie couldn't believe how Carly could go from yelling at them to telling them she was happy for them.

"Why? Our parents are _dating_. Do you know how gross that is!" Sam exclaimed.

"Nice one. I bet they didn't hear that." Freddie said sarcastically.

"Don't you dare start arguing and forget I'm standing here." Carly said as she put her hands on her hips.

Sam and Freddie looked at Carly with guilty eyes. "So you mad at us?" Freddie finally asked. "Or are you now happy?" Freddie added a bit sarcastically.

Carly glared at the two. "I swear, you're acting more like Sam every day." she muttered. Carly huffed. "I'm actually upset with you guys. Even though, for reasons I'd rather not say, I'm happy you two are living together. But I can't believe you guys didn't tell me."

"We're sorry." Freddie said sincerely. "It won't happen again."

Carly scoffed. "Yeah, 'cause it's so possible it could happen again."

"No more secrets between us. Seriously this time." Sam said.

Carly crossed her arms and stared them down.

"Do you forgive us?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, but promise no more secrets?"

"Promise." they said simultaneously.

Sam shuffled her feet. "Could we still not let anyone else know?"

"Sam!" Carly exclaimed.

"What? I was just wondering! I don't want the whole world knowing I live with a momma's boy."

"And I don't want everyone knowing I live with the demon." Freddie added.

Carly shook her head. They had been friends for almost five years and they still surprised her with their crazy antics.

* * *

Carly agreed to let them keep their living arrangements a secret, but they had to let Spencer know too. He was one of their friends too and he deserved to know.

Freddie was in the living room flipping through the channels on the TV. Carly had gone home a few hours ago and Sam had stayed in her room. Freddie rubbed his eyes as he looked over at the time. It was late. He should be getting to bed since it was still a school night.

"Hey Fredwardo." Sam came out and sat next to him. Her hair was wet and she had a tank top on with pajama bottoms.

"I was just about to go to bed." Freddie said.

"That's nice." Sam said in a tone that said she really didn't care. She grabbed the remote from him and turned it off.

"You going to bed too?"

"No, we need to talk."

Freddie gulped. This couldn't be good.

"You were eavesdropping earlier, weren't you?"

Freddie hesitated before taking a deep breath. "Yes, I was. I was curious!"

Sam slapped his arm roughly. "Dude, that's a violation of the rule of respecting privacy!"

"Well it's what you get for not telling me you were having Carly over! If you would've told me, none of that would've happened in the first place."

Sam narrowed her eyes. "What exactly did you hear?"

"...nothing important really...

"Freddie..."

"All right, I heard Carly mentioning something about a crush you had while you kept saying you just thought the guy was cute." Freddie finally looked back at Sam. He swore he saw the tips of her ears turning red.

"Forget you ever heard anything." Sam said shortly.

"But who were you two talking about? Who is this new guy? And why haven't you told _me_ anything about it?"

"It's nobody that concerns you dip wad, so just stay out of it." Sam said as she stood up.

"What about not keeping things from each other?"

Sam smirked. "That actually only applies with Carly. And once again that would be another violation of respecting privacy."

Freddie sighed as he leaned back in the couch after Sam went back to her room. How was he going to keep living with her if she kept acting like this? And why did he really want to know who this new guy was that she thought was cute?

* * *

School was a bit weirder than usual now that Carly knew. She would always make subtle hints at it, then begin giggling to herself. It was starting to annoy both Freddie and Sam, but there was nothing they could really do about it. They figured she would get over it eventually. They were going to tell Spencer about it next time they went over, which would be sometime next week after their punishment was over.

It was Saturday and both Sam and Freddie were stuck at home. Carly was shopping with Spencer for groceries and that would take them the entire day. They had to find something interesting to occupy their time. That's how they ended up in the living room, sprawled out on the couch, watching TV.

"Change it. That show's stupid." Sam said as Freddie let the TV a sci-fi show.

"But this is my favorite show!" Freddie protested.

Sam got up, thumped his forehead, and stole the remote from him. "It's a stupid show." she said as she changed it.

Freddie winced as he rubbed his now throbbing forehead. "You just don't like it because you don't understand half of what they're saying."

Sam didn't say anything, but did grab a pillow and hit Freddie in the face with it.

Freddie groaned as he let his head fall back. "I'm so bored."

"Dude, why can't we just sneak out? Steven's not even here and my mom's somewhere outside. They won't ever know."

Freddie gave Sam a side-ways glance. "My dad will find out. Trust me. And I don't want to get into anymore trouble."

Sam turned off the TV after going through all the channels. It was amazing how many channels there were and yet nothing good or interesting was on. "Let's do something."

"Like?" Freddie asked as he lifted his head.

"Let's look around. I bet there's tons of cool stuff your dad has in here." Sam said with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes.

"I don't know, Sam..."

"Don't be such a baby, Fredwad. Let's just go look around. We won't take anything that isn't ours." Sam grabbed Freddie's wrist and pulled him up.

"Fine, but we can't go upstairs." Freddie said as he started walking behind her.

They walked out into the hallway and headed towards the kitchen. Sam started climbing up the stairs. "Sam! I just said we can't go upstairs." Freddie said as he stayed on the bottom step.

Sam stopped and looked down at him. "Why not?"

"Because that's where my dad and your mom stay. Don't you think it'll be kind of...weird?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "No, it isn't going to be weird. Let's just go look around upstairs." she said as she continued walking.

Freddie mumbled protests under his breath, but followed after Sam. Sam looked down the hallway of the second floor. "So which way? Right or left?"

Freddie shrugged his shoulders. "Right I guess."

"Left it is." Sam said as she took the opposite direction. They past several closed doors to which Sam had opened to look inside. "Why does your dad have all these empty rooms?" Sam asked as they continued walking.

"He doesn't have anything to put in them. I know he's got an office, a few guest rooms, a library, and a fitness room, but after filling all those rooms, he still had a whole bunch of space left over."

"No kidding." Sam said as she opened the door to another room. This particular room wasn't empty though. It was shelves filled with books lining the walls. At the very end of the room was a large window with chair facing the window.

They walked in the room. "Wow. I had no idea so many books existed. Who would want to read all of these anyways?" Sam said in awe.

Freddie walked to a shelf and pulled out a book. He had to blow off some dust. It was a copy of _Treasure Island_, first edition. "I think he collects old books."

"Another nubbish trait that was passed on to you." Sam said as she walked further into the room.

"I don't collect old books!"

"But you collect stuff equally as boring." Sam plopped down on the lone chair and looked outside. You could see the entire backyard, which was saying something.

Freddie made the choice to ignore Sam, even if he didn't collect anything except for Galaxy Wars collectibles. He sat down on the armrest.

"Do you think Steven would let us build a tree house?" Sam asked.

Freddie chuckled. "A tree house?"

"Yeah. Ever since I was a kid, I've always wanted one."

"Sure I guess. I mean, if you actually asked him. He could hire-"

"No, I want to do. You and me could build it together."

"Sam Puckett work? Or are you going to make me do all the work while you sit around and watch?"

Sam shoved Freddie lightly. "No, I'm going to be doing the work while you pass me the tools because obviously you aren't equipped to handle tools."

"I am more equipped than you know." Freddie said confidently.

"Really. Well I'd like to see-"

"I'm back!" they heard Steven yell.

Freddie jumped up. "What if he comes in here?"

"Then just tell him we were reading a book." Sam said bluntly as she stood up.

"Yeah, but-"

"Don't worry, Freddie. Why would he come in here?"

"Steven, come here!" they heard Pam yell from down the hall.

"I don't know Sam..." Freddie said as he nervously looked from the door back to her.

They heard footsteps coming down the hall towards the library where they were. Freddie's eyes widened as he saw the door knob beginning to turn. He looked at Sam who had frozen in surprise. He quickly grabbed her ad pulled her to a closet he had noticed earlier. The closet was small, barely big enough for one person to fit, but somehow both of them managed to fit with the door closed.

"Get off my foot!" Sam hissed.

"I can't move, so just deal with it!" Freddie hissed back.

Sam looked up, but she ended up bumping her forehead into Freddie's nose. Freddie shut his eyes and cringed. He felt his nose starting to bleed. Freddie opened his eyes to scowl at Sam, but was surprised at how close she really was. The tip of her nose was touching his bleeding nose and their foreheads were pressed together, not to mention how close the rest of their bodies were. He inhaled loudly as he looked into her blue eyes. He never remembered them being so blue.

Sam, on the other hand, made a face at him to keep it down. "They're in the room." she whispered.

"Is everything all right, honey?" they heard Steven ask as the door to the library closed.

"I don't know." Pam's loud footfall could be heard as she paced. "Did you see the kids when you came in?"

"No, I'm sure they're in their rooms."

"Good...'cause I kind of have something to tell you..."

Sam's eyes widened as did Freddie's. They looked at each other, thinking the same thing. _This could not be happening_.


	9. The SlipUp

A/N: I'm back! Actually, I've been back for a while, I just haven't put up this chapter...I've kind of been stalling. Kind of ran into some trouble while I was writing this chapter and I couldn't figure out which way to go with it and then I really got into reading some fics instead of writing this chapter. But I've finally finished it. Hope you people like this chapter...I feel like it isn't my best work, but oh well. I promised a new chapter by the second week of January so here it is. Enjoy and review! Oh and I figured out which direction to go with Pam, but I'm leaving the result until next chapter...

* * *

The Slip-Up

"Pam...what's wrong? Are you sick?"

"No..."

"Then what?" Steven laughed. "What? Are you pregnant?"

Pam didn't answer for a moment, but it felt like a lifetime to Sam and Freddie. "...no." she finally said.

Sam and Freddie both felt relief.

"At least...I don't think so."

"Wha-!"

Freddie managed to wriggle up his hand and cover Sam's mouth before she could finish yelling.

"Did you hear that?" Steven asked.

"No, I didn't hear anything. Stop trying to change the subject."

"We need to get out of here _now_." Sam hissed, not wanting to hear the rest of the conversation.

"The only way for us to get out of here would be for us to walk out and we can't do that since we'd get in huge trouble!" Freddie hissed back.

"Have you taken a test yet?" they heard Steven ask.

"I am not going to stand here while listening to them talk about the possibility of my mom being _pregnant_!"

"So then what do you suggest we do?"

Sam growled, unable to think of anything that wouldn't get them in trouble.

Freddie rolled his eyes. "I knew I shouldn't have followed you upstairs! You always end up getting into some kind of trouble and now I'm going to get into trouble too!"

"You were the idiot that decided to hide and pulled me in the closet too! Now your freaking chest is up against my boobs and I can't move!"

Awkward air invaded the closet. Freddie wasn't about to mention the fact that Sam was blushing a little. He tried taking a step back, but the closet was too small. They were stuck in that position. He was trying his best to calm down his teenage male hormones.

"Well, when do you think it happened? Sometime last week? The kids were out of the house for a while." Steven said.

"No, it had to have been earlier. Besides, you used a condom those few times. The day after I moved in? You didn't use on then."

After hearing that, Freddie's hormones started to behave again. In fact, he was feeling nauseous."So then I guess we're stuck here until they leave." Freddie mumbled, staring straight into Sam's eyes.

Sam knew that Freddie meant nothing by staring into her eyes, but that didn't stop her knees from feeling suddenly weak. The browness of his eyes...they reminded her of meatballs, the best food ever invented...she didn't intend on inhaling sharply.

Freddie frowned when he heard her breathe in sharply. "Are you all right?" he whispered. He thought he head the door to the library open and close, but wasn't sure of it.

Sam bit her tongue harshly to keep anything like that from happening again. Especially when his warm breath was on her cheek...it smelled like oranges and reminded her of...

Sam mentally shook her head, trying to regain control of herself. She was stuck in here with Freddie Benson and Pam and Steven were outside talking about the possibility of being pregnant! Now was not the time for those kind of thoughts. In fact, there was _never_ a good time for those kind of thoughts! "Of course I'm fine, nub. I'd be better if you'd keep your nasty breath to yourself."

"Looked like you were spacing out..."

Sam scowled but it soon turned into a grimace. "Gross, I can feel your blood dripping down my shirt."

Freddie looked down, but his eyes immediately shot back up, realizing how low the neckline was to her shirt.

Sam rolled her eyes. "You're such a perv."

Freddie decided not to waste his time on retaliating. He ignored a small part of his brain that was teasing him for not coming up with a good retort.

It was quiet for a moment. They didn't hear anything from Pam or Steven.

"I think they left." Freddie said a bit louder.

"I don't remember hearing them leave."

"Cause you spaced out for a minute there. What were you even thinking?"

Sam pushed down a blush, remembering that was when she was thinking about his eyes...that good smelling breath of his...now she was thinking about how nice his lips looked...they were so close...all she had to do was-

Her phone started blaring in the closet. Sam fumbled in her pocket and answered her phone quickly. If Pam and Steven were still in the room, she could only hope they didn't hear her phone. "What?" she hissed.

Freddie shut his eyes tightly. They were going to be in so much trouble. Any second now, Pam and Steven were going to come in and find them there. Then they were probably going to get grounded all over again.

Sam frowned. "Oh, sorry. I didn't...oh...really?"

Freddie watched Sam as she talked to the other person. Her face seemed to have calmed. In the back of his mind he wondered why the closet door hadn't been opened by Pam or Steven yet. But the thought that prevailed in his mind was how...dainty her lips were...even more when she was talking. They shimmered lightly, probably from some lip gloss that Carly let her borrow.

Maybe it was because of how close they were or maybe it was because he couldn't hear his dad or Pam talking anymore and completely forgot what they were talking about, but either way, Freddie did something that surprised himself and Sam.

Sam hung up her phone and looked back at Freddie. She was going to tell him who it was, but she noticed a weird look on his face. "Uh...Freddie? What are yo-"

He barely had to move his head forward to be able to capture Sam's lips with his own. He completely forgot that his nose was bleeding or that Sam accused him of having bad breath or that their parents were dating or even that they were _only_ frenemies. Yet here he was, kissing Samantha Puckett.

Sam, on the other hand, widened her eyes. What was he doing? What was he thinking? He must not be thinking, because there he was, kissing her! Now his tongue, gently gliding along her lower lip...she should've kicked him then and there, but...it felt so...strange...and yet wonderful...this feeling in the pit of her stomach...

Half of her mind was functioning and it was telling her to push him away and start yelling at him. She opened her mouth to start yelling (at least that's what she told herself later) and Freddie slipped his tongue inside. She finally succumbed, all coherent thoughts fleeing, and she closed her eyes while generously returning the kiss.

Freddie's left hand rested on her waist and his right held onto Sam's, fingering the softness of her hands. Sam's free hand made its way to his side and began to gently go up and down, feeling the muscles underneath his shirt.

Freddie, being the one that started the kiss, ended it. Oxygen was needed. He kept his eyes closed, the situation still not dawning on him completely. He heard Sam inhale deeply, her hand still in his his. They opened their eyes simultaneously, blue meeting brown. They didn't move for a moment. Freddie licked his lips, still tasting Sam on them.

"They're at the store." Sam said finally.

Freddie blinked a few times. What was she talking about? His mind was still foggy from the kiss. The kiss that was so intense and heated, yet gentle...like eating a jalapeño covered in chocolate...so captiv-

"Pam and Steven are at the store." Sam said harshly this time. She pulled her hand out of his hand and reached for the knob. She opened the door and shoved Freddie out, following after him.

Freddie wiped his nose. The bleeding had stopped, but now the blood was dry. He looked at Sam and saw the flushness of her face, contrasting with the red of his blood that was on her nose as well. His eyes widened as he finally realized what they did. It wasn't anything bad, but it was against everything that they were. Sam, the blonde-headed demon and Freddie, the Galaxy Wars fanatic. They were _not_ supposed to be making out in a closet! "Sam, I-"

Sam roughly grabbed his collar and lowered his face towards hers. "We never speak of it again." she said through clenched teeth. "In fact, it never happened so just forget it. It meant _nothing_." she pushed him back before storming out, leaving Freddie behind.

Freddie was trying to remember everything that happened since his mind was still a confused mess. He knew that they kissed, but he couldn't remember anything in between. Sam answered her phone. Freddie started to stare at her lips. Sam was talking while Freddie heard nothing. Sam hung up her phone. Freddie kissed her. Sam resisted...no...she didn't...she was tense, but...she kissed him back...

A small smile appeared on his face as he walked out of the room. He went in to the bathroom to clean his nose, still thinking of the kiss, the smile still on his face. He walked back downstairs and saw the back of Sam's head in the living room. She was watching TV.

She turned around to look at him when she heard him coming down. "What were you doing upstairs?" she asked while making a face at his presence. She had wiped the blood off of her face as well and changed shirts.

The smile fell from his face. He forgot what she said when she left the library. _We never speak of it again. In fact, it never happened so just forget it. It meant_ nothing_._ He scowled right back at her. "Like you would even care." he sneered as he sat down next to her.

Sam rolled her eyes as she turned back to the TV. She wasn't focused on the TV though. She was focused on the feeling in her hand, the one that Freddie had been holding moments earlier. It still felt so warm.

* * *

They had been sitting there in the living room for at least an hour, the sound from the TV filling the uncomfortable silence around them. Pam and Steven had yet to come back from the store. Sam was starting to get a little worried. She knew the only reason why they went to the store was for a test. What if Pam had already taken the test and she really was pregnant? This thought both scared and disgusted her.

"Would you stop worrying? Everything is going to be fine."

Sam looked at Freddie and realized he was staring at her. She narrowed her eyes.

Freddie shook his head. "I can see you're worrying. You always bite your lip when you worry. And the chances of Pam being pregnant are really slim. You know that."

Sam sighed loudly. "I know...but there's still a chance she is..."

Freddie knew she was right and turned his attention back to the TV.

A few minutes later, the door swung open and Pam stormed in with a look that could kill. She slammed the door behind her, not even acknowledging Sam or Freddie. Seconds later, Steven came in, looking just as mad as Pam and he too slammed the door and said nothing to Sam and Freddie. He just followed after Pam up the stairs. "Pam!" he yelled, "We need to talk about this! I don't care how upset you are, we're talking about it!"

"Get away from me, Steven! I don't want to see your face right now! Just get out!"

A door was slammed. "I'm not leaving! We're going to talk about this!"

"I guess they're home." Sam said dryly.

* * *

Saturday, which was a day Freddie could put on his list of worst days ever, was finally over and it was now Sunday. He could hear water running from the bathroom and guessed Sam was taking a shower. He laid in bed, waiting for her to get out. Once he heard the water shut off and Sam walking to her own room, Freddie finally got up to brush his teeth and get started.

As soon as he finished, he came out at the same time Sam came out of her room. He smirked at her disheveled hair. "You look great this morning."

Sam glared at him, but said nothing as she joined him in walking to the kitchen. When they got there, both Pam and Steven were sitting at the table with grim looks on their faces. Sam even thought Pam's eyes were a little bloodshot from crying.

"Sam, Freddie," Steven started. He grabbed Pam's hand. "We've got some news. You better sit down."


	10. The Lesson

A/N: New chapter...finally! Hopefully it's good and to everyone's liking since I did spend more time on this one perfecting it. And concerning Pam...I tallied up the votes on the poll and on what people posted in their reviews. Not to give anything away just yet, but the whole dilemma with Pam being pregnant is still going to be a big part of the story, even if she _isn't_ pregnant...if that makes sense...oh and something really exciting is going to be happening next chapter so keep reading! One more thing, I put the lyrics to a song, Happy Together by The Turtles, just a disclaimer that I don't own it of course, it's just one of my favorite songs. Okay, that's it for this author's not. On to the story and please leave reviews for me! Next chapter will definitely be up a lot sooner.

* * *

The Lesson

They both sat down directly in front of Steven and Pam. "Is everything all right?" Freddie asked first.

Pam sighed as she leaned back in her chair, pulling her hand away from Steven's. "Yeah, everything's just peachy." she said sharply.

Sam narrowed her eyes at Pam. "Something happened. Why can't you just answer the question without biting someone's head off?"

Pam glared at Sam, but before she could say anything, Steven spoke. "I'm sure you two have noticed Pam hasn't been feeling well."

"It was kind of hard not to." Sam muttered.

Steven ignored the snarky remark. "Okay then...yesterday, we were in the library-"

"Do you really have to tell them _everything_? Just give them the summary." Pam snapped.

Steven turned to look at Pam. "Excuse me for wanting to explain some things to them. They deserve to have a full explanation." he said in a tight voice.

"If you give them the full explanation, we'll be here all night." Pam matched his tone. With her eyes narrowed, she said one last thing. "Hurry up, before you sleep on the couch."

Steven glared at her. Sam or Freddie suddenly felt a rising tension between the two adults. "Pam took a pregnancy test because we thought there was a possibility she could be...pregnant..."

Sam closed her eyes and groaned. "Please, please, please tell me you're not."

"No, I'm not." Pam said with a little eye roll.

Sam opened her eyes and looked at the two adults. They both looked very serious and upset about something, but she didn't care! Pam wasn't pregnant! "This is the best news ever!" Sam exclaimed.

"Oh thank goodness you're not pregnant!" Freddie added. "I don't know what I would've done."

Pam glared at them both. "I'm leaving" Pam mumbled to Steven before grabbing the keys to the car.

Sam frowned slightly. "Wait, where are you going?"

"You don't need to know." Pam snapped. She softened a little when she saw a little worry in Sam's eyes. "I'll be back. Promise." she gave Sam a quick kiss on the top of her head before leaving the house.

Once Pam was gone, Sam spun her head to look at Steven. "What did you do to her?" she growled.

Steven sighed. "We kind of...had a little argument last night."

"Seems like it was actually something big." said Freddie.

"You two don't need to worry about it. But I'd like to explain something," Steven paused in his talking and looked at his hands. He turned his attention back to them. "When a man and woman...when they have, um...strong..._very_ strong feelings towards each other."

Freddie's face flamed up while Sam's jaw dropped. "Dad...please tell me you're not about to have the talk with us." he groaned.

"Freddie, it's a very natural thing and you need to be educated so when it does happen-"

Sam gagged. "Dude, we don't need the sex talk! I've already heard it once from my mom. I don't need to hear it again, especially from _you_!"

"And I've had it from Mom and at school too! Trust me, they got the message across." Freddie pleaded with his dad.

"All right, I'm not going to say anything more!" Steven said as he held up his hands. "Just...don't get into any kind of trouble while you're young. There. That's it. I'm not going to say anything else about it." Steven stood up and walked upstairs.

Freddie and Sam were still at the table, alone with their own thoughts. "So..." Sam said, breaking the silence and making things even more awkward.

Freddie sighed heavily as he got up. He just had to pretend like nothing happened. "Do you want some eggs and sausage?" he asked as he poked his head into the fridge.

Sam smiled, knowing what Freddie was doing. "Duh, do you even have to ask. Give me five eggs and six sausages." Sam placed her order as she laced her hands behind her head, placed her feet on the table and leaned back in the chair. She was feeling pleased with herself at the fact that Freddie was cooking for her without complaining.

* * *

Sam laid awake in her bed staring up at the ceiling. It was super late, or early depending on how you looked at it. She had slept some, but not enough like she wanted to. She didn't know why she couldn't sleep. Most of the time she didn't have any problems with sleeping, but tonight seemed to be horrible. Maybe it was because of the whole pregnancy scare with her mom. It was over though, and she had nothing to worry about.

As she lay there trying to sleep, it occurred to her that maybe going outside on the porch swing would do her some good. She slipped out of bed, put on some socks and a sweater and walked out of her room into the dark hallway. She didn't get far, though. Someone was in the living room talking.

"...don't think it's fair that we do this to them."

Great. It was Steven. He was probably talking with Pam. Sam slid down to the floor. She'd just wait for them to leave before she'd go outside. In the meantime, she could listen to what they were saying.

"I know...but what else are we supposed to do? We don't agree on this and if we can't find common ground...I don't know, Steven."

Sam frowned when she heard what Pam said. She figured they had a huge argument the night before, but was it actually threatening their relationship now?

"What are you trying to say Pam? You'd end it because of something like that?"

"I didn't say I would."

"But you didn't say you wouldn't."

"I don't know Steven! It's a huge thing! Just...can we please just leave this alone for right now? I'm tired and I really want to get some sleep.

"All right, but..."

"But what, Steven?"

"Are you still mad at me?"

Sam made a face when she heard lips smacking. She assumed Pam gave Steven a kiss. "No. I'm not mad with you. I'm just a little annoyed and frustrated."

"I can deal with that then." Steven said after a small pause.

Sam could hear them walking upstairs, but didn't move from her spot. She wondered what their argument was about in the first place.

She was too lost in her thoughts to have heard the back door closing and someone coming down the hallway. Only until she heard the soft thump of the person sitting next to her did she turn to look. She rolled her eyes and let out a small groan. "What are you doing here, Fredwiener?"

Freddie smirked. "So you really do have that horrible attitude all hours of the day."

Sam punched his arm, lighter than usual, but claimed it was only because she was tired and wasn't at full strength. "What are you doing up?" she asked after a bit.

"I couldn't sleep, so I went outside to sit on the porch swing. You?"

"Couldn't sleep either. I was about to go outside too, but then I heard Mom and Steven talking in the living room."

"Yeah...I could hear them too."

"What were they arguing about?"

Freddie shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I think they were just continuing an argument they were having, but never finished."

Sam chewed her lip. "Sounded like they were upset." she said softly.

Freddie looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Are you worried about it?"

Sam scowled and shoved him. "No. I just...don't want anyone to get hurt." she paused before adding another thought. "My mom's been through enough of that."

Freddie pursed his lips, knowing exactly what Sam meant. "I'm sure it'll blow over soon enough." he lightly patted Sam's knee before getting up. He grabbed her arms and pulled her up as well. "Get some sleep and don't worry about it."

Sam watched Freddie turn around and go into his room. She knew Freddie was probably right, but that didn't mean she still wasn't going to worry about it.

* * *

Monday evening came and Sam and Freddie were sitting at the dining table. Pam and Steven were out buying groceries while they did their homework. Correction; while _Freddie_ did his homework and Sam copied his answers.

"Don't you think you should actually _try_ and figure out some of the problems on your own?" Freddie asked as he looked over at Sam.

"It requires effort and I'd rather use my effort for something that's actually worth it." Sam put aside a worksheet that she had just finished and pulled out her Algebra homework. Freddie was working on the same thing when Sam started copying the answers he already got.

"Isn't math your favorite subject?" Freddie interrupted the silence again.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Who told you that lie? I don't have a favorite subject and if I did, it most definitely would not be math...it would be English."

Freddie gave her curious look. "English? Really? Why?"

"Because I think it's interesting! Now hurry up with the other answers so I can copy those too." Sam leaned back in her chair and pulled out a stick of gum.

Freddie shook his head as he continued working. Once he got another problem, Sam leaned over and copied that answer.

The front door opened and Pam and Steven came in, their arms loaded with groceries.

"Hey Dad, hey Pam." Freddie called out.

"Hey Mom, hey Steven." Sam called out at the same time.

"Hello kids. What are you two doing?" Steven asked as he set down some of the groceries.

"Homework." Sam answered.

"Wow, I never thought I'd come home and find you doing homework." Pam said as she ruffled Sam's hair with a smile. "You're already doing better than me at your age."

Steven frowned and was going to question Pam's question, but she walked upstairs before she could say anything. "What kind of homework do you have?"

"We just have to finish math." Freddie said, setting down his pencil and letting his mind take a quick break.

"Yeah, so you can just go ahead and leave." Sam motioned with her hands for Steven to go.

"Wait, Sam...I see your answers, but where's your work?" Steven asked as he grabbed Sam's worksheet.

"Um...I did it in my head." she answered.

Steven looked at Freddie's work, then back to Sam's. "Are you cheating?"

"Me? Cheat? Never."

"Sam..." Steven said in a warning tone.

"Steven..." Sam replied, mocking his own tone.

"I think this is my cue to go." Freddie mumbled as he quickly gathered his books and took them to his room.

"Do you not understand this?"

"I don't _need_ to understand this. I'm never going to use it in my life, so why learn it in the first place?" she asked with her arms crossed.

Steven took the seat Freddie had just vacated. "So you can graduate high school. Isn't that what you want?"

Sam didn't answer.

"Why don't I help you?" he stared erasing the answers she had already copied from Freddie. "Let's look at number one..."

* * *

Sam and Steven had been sitting at the dining table for about an hour. They had almost finished all the problems, but Sam was getting frustrated.

"I'll just get the answers from Freddie or Carly or someone! Just let me go eat already!" Sam yelled as she threw down her pencil.

"I want you to understand this, Sam. You'll be able to get through Algebra 2 with less hassle if you just learn this trick." Steven said as he patiently handed her the pencil back.

"What's going on in here? I heard some yelling." Pam came into the kitchen where they were.

"Steven's being rude!" Sam yelled.

"I'm trying to help her with her homework."

"Well right now I don't want to do it because I'm tired, frustrated, hungry, and annoyed." Sam slouched in her chair and crossed her arms.

Pam pursed her lips. "I think I know what to do." she said before quickly exiting.

Steven frowned and looked at Sam. "What is she going to do?"

Sam just shook her head. "I don't know. She's weird like that." she grabbed her pencil and leaned over her work. "So what was I supposed to do?" her tone showed how exasperated she was.

As Steven was about to start explaining the process all over again, music sounded through the kitchen and Pam came dancing in. Steven frowned, staring at her in shock. "What is she doing?"

Sam grinned, knowing exactly what Pam was doing.

"_Imagine me and you, I do. I think about you day and night, it's only right to think about the girl you love and hold her tight, so happy together!_" Pam sang to the music.

Sam jumped up from her chair. "_If I should call you up, invest a dime and you say you belong to me and ease my mind. Imagine how the world could be, so very fine, so happy together!_"

"_I can't see me loving nobody, but you for all my life!_" they sang simultaneously.

Steven watched with an amused look on his face as the mother and daughter sang. He stood up and joined them. "_When you're with me, baby the skies'll be blue forever, for all my life!_" he sang.

Sam and Pam began laughing, but kept singing with Steven singing along with them.

"What is going on?" Freddie asked as he walked out of his room.

"We're singing! What does it look like?" Sam paused in her singing to answer him. "_Me and you and you and me, no matter how they toss the dice, it has to be_"

Freddie watched as Sam, Pam, and Steven all continued singing. He shrugged his shoulders and took a deep breath. "_The only one for me is you, and you for me, so happy together!_"

Pam let out a cat call and Steven laughed as Freddie joined in the singing. He and Sam were now the only ones singing while Pam and Steven started dancing, laughing the entire time.

The song slowly started coming to an end, but Sam did something that would've made Freddie freeze on any normal occasion. She laced her fingers with his and held his hand, looking straight into his eyes as if she was singing to him. She still had that goofy smile on her face as the two kept singing, not looking away from the other.

"_I can't see me lovin' nobody but you, for all my life! When you're with me, baby the skies'll be blue for all my life!_"

The song ended and Sam let go of Freddie's hand, laughing and not thinking a thing of it. Freddie didn't think about it either as he laughed with Sam.

Pam leaned against Steven as he wrapped his arms around her. They were laughing too, but they had watched their own kids interacting. The hand-holding definitely didn't go unnoticed by them.

* * *

"Morning Carly." Sam said as she went up to her locker.

Carly smiled as she pulled out a sweater. "Hey, what's up? Wait, where's Freddie? Sam, what did you do to him?"

"She didn't do anything to me." Freddie said as he walked up behind them.

"Oh thank goodness. You guys usually walk in together, so I just assumed..."

"Nope. There are way too many witnesses for me to try and pull something like _that_ off." Sam said with a smirk.

"You couldn't even if there weren't any witnesses." Freddie retorted.

"You wanna bet?" Sam said in a loud voice.

Carly was going to intervene, but her phone started ringing. She had forgotten to put it on silent.

Sam and Freddie stopped immediately when they heard her ring-tone. They both started grinning.

"_I can't see me lovin' nobody,_" Sam started.

"_But you, for all my life!_" Freddie added.

Carly watched in shock as the two supposed enemies started singing along with her ring-tone, both of them staring at each other with huge smiles on their faces.

The ring-tone finally ended and Sam and Freddie laughed. "Ah, good times." Sam said with a satisfied smile.

"Unforgettable moments." Freddie added. He looked at his watch, then back at the two girls. "I better get to my class. Later!"

Carly's mouth fell slightly open as she watched Freddie leave. She then turned to Sam. "What was that?"

Sam frowned. "What was what?" she asked, pulling out a package of sausage from her backpack.

"That whole thing with Freddie!" Carly nearly yelled.

"Oh that!" Sam said with a smirk.

"Yes that! What happened between you two!"

"The nub said I couldn't do anything even if there wasn't any witnesses around! Of course I had to retaliate!"

"No I-"

The bell rang. "Aw chiz, I didn't get to finish my breakfast! Come on Carls. We better go before we're late." Sam said as she grabbed Carly's wrist and started pulling her to class.


	11. The Arrivals

A/N: New chapter! I was excited while writing this one, but I'm even more excited for the next one. I think you guys are going to like a whole bunch. So read this, like this, and review this and thank you to everyone who has been reviewing that chapters. They really do mean a lot to me. Any thoughts, questions, comments are always welcome. So please don't forget to review :)

* * *

The Arrivals

It had been a few weeks since the entire pregnancy scare with Pam. Things had improved a little for Pam and Steven, but Sam and Freddie both noticed tension that wasn't there before. Plus, more than once they caught Steven sleeping on the sofa, which didn't make sense to them because of all the extra rooms. When they talked about it, they came to the conclusion that Pam had managed to ban Steven from sleeping in one of the spare rooms and leaving him with nothing but the sofa.

Their worries were out of their mind for the moment though, as they enjoyed lunch with Carly on the last day of school before Thanksgiving break.

"What are you guys doing for Thanksgiving?" Carly asked as she stabbed her fork into her salad.

"I think we're just going to stay home. At least that's what me and my mom always do." Sam answered. She stole a fry from Freddie's tray. He turned to glare at her, but she just gave him a cheeky smile. He didn't say anything and just continued letting her steal his fries, knowing there was nothing he could do about it.

"And I think my dad wanted to stay home too. So are you still going to Yakima?" Freddie asked, taking a bit from his cheeseburger.

Carly nodded her head. "Me and Spencer always go to Yakima."

Sam groaned. " Great, so you're going to leave me behind to suffer with the nub and his nerd of a dad."

"My dad isn't a nerd!" Freddie exclaimed.

Sam smirked. "He's an even bigger nerd since you had to defend him."

"Really, Sam? You're comparing his dad to a nerd?" Carly said as she shook her head with disappointment.

"Oh, sorry...I forgot that's offensive to all the other nerds in the world."

"So is your mom coming back to spend Thanksgiving with you?" Carly asked Freddie before they could start arguing.

"I actually haven't heard anything from her for the past week."

Sam choked. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah. It's kind of weird too. I tried calling her, but she wouldn't pick up. She did send me an e-mail though, but that was it."

Carly was just as surprised as Sam. "You don't think something might've happen, do you?"

Freddie shook his head. "No. I'm sure she's just enjoying herself."

Sam chuckled as she took a bite of her burger. "Seems like she's finally cut the umbilical cord. Question is; are you ready to _let go_ of it?"

Freddie slammed a hand on the table. "That's it! Why are you always-!"

"Carly! Carly! Carlaaaaaaaay!"

The three turned around to see Spencer running into the cafeteria. "Spencer? What are you doing here?" Carly asked with a frown. She was just glad he was properly dressed this time.

"I'm picking you up! We're going back to the apartment, packing our bags, and taking off for Yakima!" Spencer ended his sentence by pumping a fist into the air.

"School isn't even finished yet." Sam pointed out.

"I know. I just thought I'd do Carly the favor and get her out early."

Carly looked warily at Freddie and Sam. She didn't want to leave them unsupervised just yet. "I don't know, Spencer...can't you wait until school's over?"

"Kid, what's wrong with you? Here I am, handing you a 'get out of school free' card and you're not accepting? Why?" Spencer asked.

"Because I have a bad feeling that when I leave, these two are going to break out into a huge fight." Carly said with a pointed look at her friends.

"We're not going to fight." Freddie assured her.

"At least not in school. Back home is a different story." Sam said with a smirk.

Freddie lightly poked her side when he saw Carly's exasperated look. Sam turned to glare at him, but with a sigh she turned back to look at Carly. "I'm just playing. We're not going to fight while you're gone. When you come back, all the junk that makes up Freddie will still be in tact."

"Thank you, Sam. I'll see you guys Monday." Carly said as she waved bye to them.

They continued waving until she was gone. Sam put her hand down with a heavy sigh.

Freddie heard her sigh and gave her a curious look. "What is it?"

"I have no idea how I'm going keep from killing you until Carly comes back."

* * *

Sam stared up at the ceiling as she tossed a small beanbag into the air, then caught it, repeating this process over and over again. She had her music playing softly in the background as she enjoyed this peace and quiet. Steven had gone to the store to buy everything they would need for the huge dinner Thanksgiving day, Freddie had gone out for a jog and Pam was in a completely different area of the house.

"Sam! Can't you ever keep your room clean? It looks like a pig lives here!"

Sam rolled her eyes as she heard Pam come in. She had been closer than Sam had first thought. "It's not like you're any better." she said, sitting up on her bed. "What do you need?" she asked in a bored voice.

"I need you to clean your mess. Melanie's coming to town and she's staying in here with you."

"What? But why? There's a whole bunch of spare rooms that she can have!"

"She's your sister! That's why! Maybe some of her qualities will rub off on you."

Sam scowled. "It's not my fault I'm just like my mom."

Pam shook her head. "Whatever, just make sure this room is sort of clean when Melanie comes home."

"When is she supposed to be here?"

"In about an hour." Pam quickly said before walking out of the room and closing the door.

Sam let her head fall into her pillow as she let out a loud groan. Pam always told her things like this at the last minute. She sighed as she looked over at Rusty Dusty and Willie. "So guys, what do you think? Should I even make an effort to clean my room?"

The two bunnies just stared at her blankly as they ate a leaf of lettuce. Sam grinned. "Agreed! I should just let Melanie pick up for me." she laid back down on her back and continued throwing the bean bag up in the air.

The doorbell rang and Sam sat up and looked at her clock. She hadn't realized that a whole hour had gone by. She tossed the bean bag one last time before getting up and walking out of her room. She saw Pam and Melanie hugging each other in the entrance.

"How are you doing, Mel! How are your grades? Wait, more importantly, how are the guys?" Pam asked, finally letting go of Melanie.

Melanie laughed as she tossed her hair over her shoulder. She shrugged off her pink sweater as she answered. "The guys are fine, Mom and I've been doing really good in school too! I'm going to get honor roll again."

Sam scoffed. "Always the goody-two-shoes."

Melanie grinned as she saw Sam. "Sammy! I missed you!" she exclaimed as she ran up and hugged her twin sister.

Sam smiled a little, but quickly squirmed out of the hug. "Yeah, well I missed you too, Mel."

"So where's Steven?" Melanie asked, looking back and forth from Pam to Sam.

"He's out buying groceries for Thursday. He said he didn't want to leave it for the last minute." Pam said.

"That's good, isn't it?"

"Are you kidding me?" Sam put crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. "It takes the adventure out of the whole thing. Don't you remember what happened last year? How fun it was buying that turkey on Thanksgiving Day?"

Melanie winced as she remembered the incident Sam was talking about. Sam had walked out of the store, laughing loudly and Melanie followed after her, nursing a black eye. "I wouldn't call getting punched in the face fun."

"But it was still an adventure." Sam pointed out.

Melanie rolled her eyes, wondering for the umpteenth time how they could be related, much less twins. "Anyways, where am I going to stay? I kind of want to start looking around the new place. It looks so huge!"

"It is huge." Pam said proudly. "You're going to be staying with Sam though. She'll show you her room and then show you the rest of the house." she walked over to Melanie and gave her another hug. "I'm so glad you're home. Even if it's just going to be for a few days." Pam let go of her and headed upstairs to finish whatever it was she was doing.

"Now that all the mushy stuff is over..."

"Oh Sam, Mom was just hugging me." Melanie said.

"I still think it's mushy. Get your suitcases and follow me." Sam started walking, not waiting to make sure Melanie was following after her.

She stopped at her open door to her room and looked back to see Melanie a few feet off, her face becoming a little red at pulling her two big suitcases alone. "Well, this is my room, where you'll be staying until you leave Monday." Sam said as she gestured unceremoniously towards her room.

Melanie walked in with Sam following behind her. "Wow...even with all your mess, it looks like a gigantic room."

Sam grinned. "Yeah well, one of the benefits of Steven being a rich doctor."

"That's a queen bed, right?"

Sam nodded.

"So then we're sharing beds too?"

"Uh, no. You're getting the floor."

"But Sam-!"

"Or you can bring in a mattress from one of the other rooms, but you are not going to share this bed with me. I like sleeping alone."

Melanie narrowed her eyes while she set her suitcases down. "Fine. I'll just ask Steven if I can take one of the mattresses. Doesn't he have a son? Do you think he can help me?"

Sam laughed. "Yeah, he's got a son, but he's five years old and annoys the heck out of any human being." Sam didn't want Melanie to know just yet that Freddie was Steven's son. Part of her mind said it was because she always told Melanie ridiculous lies, while the other part said it was because Melanie _had_ kissed Freddie before and she didn't want an incident like that to happen again.

"Fine. I'll figure something out." Melanie huffed. She sat down on the ground in front of Rusty's and Willie's cage, smiling at them. "They're cute. When did you buy them?"

"I've had Rusty Dusty for a while already and I just bought Willie a couple of weeks ago." Sam sat down on her bed and watched her bunnies fondly.

"I didn't think Mom would let you have bunnies after what happened last time you got a bunny."

Sam didn't try to hide her scowl. "Well she did and I'm not complaining nor bringing up what happened last time."

Melanie shrugged her shoulders as she got up and headed to her suitcases. "I don't know about you, but I'm going to unpack."

"You can do whatever you want. Just don't leave this room 'cause you might get lost."

"But you'll be my tour guide, right?"

Sam picked up a towel off the floor. "Are you kidding? I've got better things to do, like showering."

* * *

Freddie slowed down his jog as he went up the driveway to the house. Steven's car wasn't there, so Freddie assumed he wasn't back yet. That meant he was stuck with Pam and Sam. He stopped in front of the door and leaned against it, catching his breath for a moment and preparing himself to enter the house. He finally turned around and tried opening the door, but it was locked.

"Of course they would lock it." Freddie muttered under his breath. He turned around, hoping to see Steven's headlights coming, but he couldn't see anything except for streetlights. He didn't have any keys on him and knew Steven didn't keep a spare key hidden in the front. He was left with only one other choice. He started ringing the doorbell.

The door opened after several rings and the porch light turned on. "Finally! Geez Puckett, what..." Freddie stopped mid-sentence as he took in Sam's appearance. Her hair was straightened and she had a light pink shirt on that was low-cut, her jeans hugged her curves and made Freddie see her not as a girl, but as a _woman_. He blinked as he brought his eyes back to hers.

She grinned, surprising him, but her next move sent him into shock. She leaped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Freddie! Oh my gosh, you have no idea how good it is to see you again!" she let go of him and pulled him inside the house, closing the door behind him.

Freddie frowned and stared at her. "Uh...I just went for a jog...you hugged me...even though I'm sweaty...are you feeling okay?"

"Of course I am! And I don't care if you're sweaty, or stinky for that matter, I still would've hugged you! So what's been going on in your life? Any new friends? Any new _female_ friends?"

"Seriously, Sam. You're starting to creep me out." Freddie said, taking a step back.

"Oh! You think I'm Sam!" she laughed. "No, I'm Melanie."

This time it was Freddie's turn to laugh. "Right...Sam, you already told me that Melanie didn't exist. It was just you trying to play a trick on me. I don't know why you're trying it again. Melanie doesn't exist."

Melanie pouted her lips. "But I do exist...I'm right here..."

"Sure, _Melanie_. You're right in front of me! And I'm Frank Sinatra's grandson!"

"Dude, why are you yelling? It's bad enough I have to deal with your voice 24/7, but yelling is really pushing it."

Freddie looked behind Melanie and saw Sam walking towards them. She was in gym shorts and a loose tank top. He took another step back. "What...?"

Melanie looked at Sam. "You told him I didn't exist?"

"He kept insisting you didn't! I just told him that so he'd shut up about it." Sam argued.

"But that still isn't right!"

"Wait, Melanie _is_ real?" Freddie tried his best to wrap his mind around this new idea.

"Of course she is, dipthong." Sam said as she punched his arm. "She's right here."

"But I thought-"

"Haven't you seen any of the pictures around the house with me, my mom, _and_ Melanie in them?"

"I thought those were photo-shopped!"

Sam shook her head. "There you go thinking again. You should just stop since it makes you look like even more of an idiot."

Freddie rolled his eyes before turning back to Melanie. "I'm sorry I didn't think you existed."

Melanie shrugged her shoulders. "It's all right. It doesn't surprise me that Sam would do something like that."

"Well then...it was nice meeting you...again, I guess...I need a shower." he muttered the last part.

"Wait, do you live here?" Melanie frowned.

Freddie smirked. "Let me guess. Sam didn't tell you?"

"No, she said it was an annoying little five year old."

They turned around to look at Sam. "What?" she said with a shrug of her shoulders. "He _is_ annoying. I just got the age part wrong."

Melanie rolled her eyes before looking back at Freddie. "Wow, so your dad is dating our mom and you live here with Sam too. Must be crazy."

Freddie laughed. "You have no idea."

Melanie smiled. "Well, since you live here...I was kind of wondering if you would like to show me around after you shower. Sam said she didn't want to give me any kind of tour." Melanie played with a strand of hair as she talked.

Freddie grinned while Sam scowled.

"I'd love to." Freddie answered.

"But he really doesn't have any time, right Fredward?" Sam said as she poked him in the ribs.

"I-"

"You were going to help your dad put away the groceries once he come home. Remember?"

"No, I-"

"Melanie, you want to watch a movie instead? You've got to see one in Steven's home theater! It is _awesome_! It's as if you're back in the theater." Sam said as she started dragging Melanie down the hallway.

Freddie watched as the twin sisters walked into the living room. He never told Sam that he was going to help Steven and he actually wasn't planning on it. It was as if Sam didn't _want_ Freddie to show Melanie around. His mind toyed with the idea that she might actually be...jealous.

* * *

Freddie threw on a shirt before walking out of his room. He had just gotten through showering and from what he could tell, Sam and Melanie were still in the living room watching some movie Sam, most likely, chose. He headed to the living room, having already decided that he was going to join them.

They were sitting on the couch, sharing a bowl of popcorn. Sam staring at the TV, the excitement shone in her eyes and Freddie couldn't help a smile. Melanie was staring at the TV as well, but had a look of terror in her eyes. They were watching _Ninja Assassin_.

Freddie walked further into the living room and was about to sit on the other end of the couch, when Melanie spotted him. "Freddie! You're out! Why don't you sit next to me?" she asked as she scooted over some.

Sam turned her head to scowl at Melanie. "Why would he want to sit next to you? There's not even enough space. There's more space next to me."

While her statement wasn't completely untrue, Freddie would've thought that Sam would jump on any situation where Freddie would be as far away from her as possible.

"I kind of would like something to bury my face in whenever a gross part comes on screen." Melanie said with hint of harshness.

"So you just thought you'd use his _chest_? Do you know how gross that is?"

"What if I sit in between you guys?" Freddie suggested, not wanting to start a conflict between the two.

Melanie grinned. "I'm fine with that. What about you, Sam?"

Sam glared at Melanie before scooting over to make room for Freddie. "Fine, I guess." she muttered.

Freddie took his seat between the two Puckett's. Almost immediately, Melanie leaned on his side and rested her head on his shoulder. From the corner of his eye, Freddie could see Sam clenching her fists.

The movie continued playing and soon enough, Freddie had the same look of excitement in his eyes that Sam had, while Melanie still had a look of terror. She would end up turning her head away whenever an especially gross part played.

A doorbell rang and Melanie lifted her head. "Was that the doorbell?" she whispered.

"No, it was just the movie." Freddie replied, his attention more on the movie than Melanie.

"Are you su-"

"Mel, shut up!" Sam snapped.

Melanie pursed her lips as she craned her neck to look at the front door. There was no movement, so Melanie continued watching the movie. After a few moments, the front door opened and the lights in the living room were turned on.

Someone yelled and Sam and Freddie cringed, knowing exactly who it was that yelled.

"What the yuck?"


	12. The Holiday Pt 1

A/N: New chapter! Sorry it's suddenly taking me longer to post the chapters. To be honest, I'm kind of losing that excitement I first had when I started this story...well, I haven't exactly lost that excitement, it's just transfered over to a different fandom, the show Merlin (which is an awesome show! If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it!). But I have no intentions of dropping this story. It will continue and I've even got the ending planned out! I just don't know how many chapters are going to be in between. And if you noticed, this is only part one of this chapter. I had to split it up since I thought it was going to be too long. All right, I'm ending this author's note with the request that you read this chapter, like it, and then review it! New chapter up in a week, maybe week and a half...? And thank you everyone who reviews! It'd be cool if I could get thirty reviews for this chapter, but it's only a suggestion...

* * *

The Holiday Pt. 1

"Maybe if we don't turn around, she'll disappear." Sam whispered to Freddie.

Melanie heard her as well. "Sam, would you be serious?" she hissed.

Freddie groaned as he stood up, turning around to look at the 'intruder'. "Mom, what are you doing here?" he asked as he made his way from the couch towards her.

"Freddie Benson! What in the world are you doing here by yourself with two girls?" she screeched as she pulled him into a choking hug.

"Mom!" Freddie squeaked as he tried squirming out of her hug. "Would you let go of me!"

Melanie decided that the moment was just right for her to turn around and introduce herself. "Hi, you must be Freddie's mom. I'm-"

Marissa screamed again and she pushed Freddie behind her. "What are _you_ doing here?"

Melanie blinked a few times. "I was just-"

"No! I don't even want to hear any explanations! First you're answering his phone calls, now you've invaded his house! Get out, get out, get out!"

Sam rolled her eyes from her spot on the couch. She heard enough of Marissa's screeching. "Would you chill out? Geez, you're going to give me a headache." she said as she stood up and looked right at Marissa.

Marissa's jaw dropped and she was left gaping, staring at the two sisters. Finally, she turned to Freddie. "That _thing_ has a clone!"

"Uh, excuse me, but if you haven't noticed, I am a person, a female actually." Sam said as she crossed her arms. "And she isn't my clone. She's my twin sister, Melanie."

Melanie gave a small wave with a forced smile.

Marissa seemed to ignore them again and turned back to Freddie. "I don't care if it's a clone or a twin, what is she doing here?" she asked in a quiet, but tight voice.

Freddie rubbed the back of his head, his eyes, darting to the floor. From what he understood, Steven still hadn't told Marissa he was dating Pam who happened to be Sam's mom. "Um...she just came over with Melanie...we were hanging out, you know."

"What the heck is going on down here?" Pam asked as she stepped into the living room.

Marissa saw Pam and screamed again.

Pam winced as she covered her ears. "Geez, lady. Do you have to scream like that? Who are you and what are you doing in here?"

"What am I...? I can't believe that man would leave my Freddie with strange women! Are you the housekeeper? If you are you've got some explaining to do! That mat outside was crooked. Don't you know that my precious son could've tripped over it?" Marissa yelled as she pulled Freddie into another smothering hug.

Pam laughed. "The housekeeper? Oh lady, you're hilarious! I wouldn't clean a house I don't own for any amount of money!"

"Then what are you doing here? And you never answered my other question of who are you?"

"I'm back from the store!" Steven proclaimed as he walked into the house.

"Steven Benson, you better have a good explanation for this!" Marissa exclaimed.

Steven's face paled as he looked at everyone who was in the living room. He visibly gulped for everyone to see.

Freddie cringed as he fought for oxygen in his mother's embrace. "This is going to be bad." he muttered.

At the same time, Sam smirked and whispered for only herself to hear, "This is going to be good."

* * *

Sam watched Freddie as he paced back and forth. She looked over at Melanie for a moment who was preoccupied with her nails and had her headphones on. "Freddie, would you calm down. Seeing you pacing is making me nervous and Puckett's never get nervous." Sam said as she held her arms. She could feel the chilly breeze from the porch swing where they were sitting.

"No, you don't know my mom." Freddie snapped, stopping for a moment to look back at Sam.

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Dude, I think I know that she's a total control-freak that still hasn't cut the umbilical cord."

Freddie sighed. "Right...sorry" he slowly walked towards them and sat next to Sam.

Melanie took off one of the headphones and looked at them. "Why do we have to wait outside. It's cold out here and I'm starting to get kind of bored."

"If you're so bored why don't you go catch a cloud and bring it back?" Sam grumbled.

Melanie rolled her eyes. "Why are you always so rude, Sam? Did I say something to annoy you?"

"Your presence annoys me."

"Freddie, do you think I said something annoying?"

Freddie looked at the twins who were waiting for his answer. He swallowed hard. It would be the end of him if he sided with Melanie and it would probably still be the end of him if he sided with Sam. "Um..."

"Kids, come inside!" Steven yelled from the opened kitchen window.

"We'll be right there!" Freddie yelled right back as he jumped up and headed towards the back door.

Sam and Melanie got up and followed Freddie inside. They saw Steven leaning against a kitchen counter with Pam standing next to him. Marissa was sitting at the small table across from them, staring them both down with her arms crossed.

It was quiet in the kitchen. Sam and Freddie exchanged glances while Melanie rubbed her arm nervously.

"So..." Melanie said, being the first one to speak. "You must be Freddie's mom." she decided on trying that line again.

Marissa ignored Melanie. "Freddie, you're coming home with me."

Before Freddie could even think about protesting, Pam started talking. "Oh yeah, Marissa. Very mature of you to ignore _my_ daughter while she's talking to you."

"Excuse me, _Pamela_, but I'm trying to talk to _my_ son." Marissa said with narrowed eyes.

Pam glared at Marissa and would've taken a step forward if Steven hadn't held her back. "My name is Pam. _Just_ Pam. Don't you ever think about calling me Pamela again."

"Ladies, please. I thought we were all friends."

Pam scoffed while Marissa gave a little 'hmph'.

Steven sighed and began rubbing his temples.

Freddie finally saw his moment to speak. "What did you say before?" he asked Marissa.

"I said that you're coming home with me. Go pack your things because we're leaving."

"No! I've finally settled in and I don't want to move!" Freddie yelled.

"Besides, didn't you already say that Freddie could stay here with his dad?" Sam pointed out.

Freddie thought it was weird Sam was trying to help him, but now wasn't the time to question it. "Dad, you can't let her do this." he pleaded.

"You're not leaving permanently. Just for Thanksgiving." Steven said.

Freddie's face paled. He didn't want to leave with his mom for Thanksgiving. It was going to be his first Thanksgiving where he actually could eat _real_ turkey and ham and his corn wouldn't be puréed!

"What if you stayed here for Thanksgiving?"

Everyone turned to look at Melanie who had decided to speak her mind.

Melanie frowned as everyone stared at her. "What? That way, we can all have time with each other and Freddie doesn't have to go anywhere."

"She isn't going to stay here, Melanie." Pam said. "There's no way she'd _ever_ stay here and honestly, I'm glad she isn't going to stay here."

Marissa glared at Pam before looking at Steven. "Considering your history, you'd charge me more than a hotel would if I stayed here."

Steven groaned. "No I wouldn't, Marissa. You're Freddie's mom and if you wanted to stay here to spend time with him, I'd let you."

"Yeah, but you're not staying here, right?" Sam said. She knew this situation could easily get bad for all of them.

Marissa pursed her lips and looked at Freddie. "Well...Freddie does seem to be already comfortable here. I'm sure Steven has a spare room here somewhere."

"You're staying here?" Freddie and Sam asked simultaneously.

"Yes." Marissa said in a tone that was final.

"Or you do you want to go with her for Thanksgiving?" Steven asked Freddie.

"It'd definitely be better than having crazy over. What's that saying? Getting rid of two crazies with one stone?" Sam mumbled. It was loud enough for everyone to hear though.

Freddie and Marissa both glared at Sam. Steven shook his head. "I'll show you to your room. Freddie, you better get her things out of her car."

* * *

"I thought that this was going to be a pretty okay Thanksgiving. But no. Mrs. Benson just had to come and ruin it. And why do we even call her Mrs. Benson! She isn't married to Steven anymore, so shouldn't she have changed her name back?" Sam ranted as she laid on her bed with her head hanging over the side.

Melanie just hummed softly in response as she brushed her hair in front of a full-length mirror she brought with her.

Sam didn't pay attention to Melanie's lack of response. "I mean, what is she even doing here? Wouldn't she have told Freddie something before showing up? He had told me that he hadn't heard from her for a whole week actually. It doesn't make any sense!"

"Sam, she's his mom. Of course she's going to want to see him for Thanksgiving. What part doesn't make any sense?" Melanie said as she finally looked away from her reflection to Sam.

Someone knocked at the door. "Can I come in?" Freddie asked from the other side of the door.

"Yeah," Sam called out.

"No!" Melanie cried at the same time.

Sam sat up. "Dude, why did you say no?"

"So was that a yes or no?" Freddie asked, still not opening the door.

"Sam! I don't have any make-up on, my hair's a mess and I'm in my _pajamas_! I can't let Freddie see me like this!" Melanie hissed as she scrambled across the room to her suitcase, throwing it open and looking for a change of clothes.

Sam shook her head as she stood and opened the door, ignoring Melanie's protests. "What do you need, Fredistein?"

"I swear, Sam. She's going to send me to my grave!" Freddie groaned as he walked in and flopped down on Sam's bed. He seemed to ignore Melanie completely.

Sam smirked at Melanie. Melanie narrowed her eyes and stuck out her tongue in Sam's direction. Sam walked back towards her bed and flopped down next to Freddie. "Oh come on, Freddie, you're over-reacting. You make it seem like you being sent to your grave is such a bad thing."

"Ha ha, very funny, Sam." he dead-panned.

"Your mom can't be that bad." Melanie said as she sat down in a chair off to the corner. She had regained her composure before Freddie stepped foot in the room. "Maybe if you sat down and talked with her, you'd see that."

Freddie scoffed. "Do you know how many times I've tried that already?"

Sam laughed. "Of course you'd try something like that."

"Shut up, Sam." Freddie shot back, not feeling in the mood to spar words with her.

"Geez, someone's touchy." Sam mumbled. "Moving on to next subject, what are you doing here? Don't you remember what Steven said about you being in my room?"

"My dad isn't going to find out and I just really needed to talk with someone."

"I'm always here to listen, Freddie. You know that, right?" Melanie said in her best earnest voice.

Freddie sat up and looked at Melanie. "Yeah, I guess." he ended in a mumble. He turned around to look at Sam when he started speaking again. "I just don't understand her! I asked her why she didn't tell me anything about visiting and she just said it was because she wanted to surprise me. That's the reason why I hadn't heard from her all week."

"You can't blame a mom for wanting to surprise her son." Melanie said.

"You obviously don't know _his_ mom." Sam said with a light laugh.

Freddie rubbed his face and fell back on the bed. "I just don't understand that woman."

"Benson, you're really starting to sound like a girl with all this complaining about your mom."

Freddie cast her a glare.

"Sam, stop being so rude!" Melanie reprimanded. "He's going through a mini-crisis. Can't you be nice to him for at least a little bit?"

"Thank you, Melanie." Freddie said, sitting back up again.

Sam scoffed and rolled her eyes. It was so typical of Melanie to say something like that.

Freddie stood and walked towards the door. "I better be leaving. Don't want my dad or Pam coming in here. Thank you _both_ for listening." he said with a smile before walking out and closing the door behind him.

Melanie gave a soft sigh after Freddie left. Sam felt like gagging when she turned and saw the dreamy look on Melanie's face. "Would you knock that off?" Sam snapped as she tossed a pillow in Melanie's direction.

Melanie dodged the pillow. "What are you talking about?" she asked innocently.

"Uh, looking at the nub as if he's God's gift to women."

Melanie rolled her eyes. "Oh, Sam. Trust me, when you meet that special someone, you'll feel exactly the same way." Melanie got up and turned off the lights to go to sleep.

Sam frowned from where she was lying on her bed. She figured Melanie liked Freddie, but she actually thought he was _the one_? That was worse than Pam thinking Steven was _the one_.

* * *

It was Thanksgiving morning. Freddie could hear Sam and Melanie in the living room and Pam and Steven in the kitchen. He didn't hear his mom though. He wondered if this was only because she was out of hearing range or if she was gone. He was slightly ashamed for hoping that she had left for good. He dressed himself quickly and stepped out into the hallway, walking into the kitchen first.

Pam had her head in the fridge while Steven had his in the cookbook.

"You're telling me you don't have _any_ kind of beer?" Pam asked.

"I've already told you no, Pam. I only have wine."

"Then how in the world are we going to cook this turkey without any beer!"

"I don't know. Why didn't you tell me last night so I could get some at the store."

"Because I thought a doctor would have some common sense and buy some beer to marinate the turkey in!"

"Um, good morning." Freddie said before they could yell even more.

Steven and Pam turned around to look at him. Steven smiled while Pam scowled. "Morning, Freddie. How'd you sleep?"

"Okay I guess." Freddie grabbed a glass and poured himself some orange juice. "Is everything going fine."

Before Pam could say anything, Steven answered. "Everything's going great."

Freddie nodded his head, not really believing him, but not having the heart to call him out on it. "Where's Mom?"

"I don't know. I woke up and she was gone."

Freddie sighed. He could only imagine where his mom was and what kind of chaos she was causing. "Okay then...I guess I'll leave you two to the cooking."

He headed into the living room and saw Sam and Melanie sitting on the couch. The TV was on the Thanksgiving Day Parade and they were sharing a bowl of popcorn. Actually, Sam was hogging the popcorn while Melanie would sneak the occasional piece. "Morning," he said as he sat down in a single chair away from the couch the twins shared.

"Good morning, Freddie." Melanie said with a cheery smile. "How are you doing?"

"Fine, I guess." he replied.

Sam chuckled. "Someone doesn't seem very social this morning. Did you forget to drink your coffee or something?"

"Do you really have to start bullying me right now?" Freddie whined.

"Any time of the day, I'm ready to bully you, Benson."

Freddie shot daggers at her with his eyes. He finally took in the appearance of them both and was a little taken aback. Sam was dressed in a simple shirt and some old jeans, it looked as if she did nothing with her hair and didn't even attempt to put on make-up. Melanie was the complete opposite. She was dressed in a nice pink blouse and had skinny jeans on, her hair was pulled into a neat ponytail with her bangs covering her forehead, her make-up was definitely noticeable.

He wondered for what had to be the thousandth time how those two could be related, much less twins.

"I'm back!"

The three turned around and saw Marissa coming with her loads of groceries.

"Come help." Freddie mumbled to Sam as he gave her thigh a soft pat. Freddie didn't wait to hear Sam following him as he grabbed some of the bags from Marissa.

"Good morning, Freddibear," Marissa said with a huge smile. She hugged him as best as she could with her arms full of groceries.

"Morning, Mom. Where were you?"

Marissa didn't answer right away as she watched Sam take some of the groceries.

Sam stared Marissa down. "Do you want me to help you or not?" she snapped.

Marissa continued eyeing Sam warily as she let her grab some of the groceries and take them into the kitchen. "I went out to buy some groceries for tonight. I thought we might need them."

They walked into the kitchen as Steven and Pam were placing stuffing in the turkey. Marissa froze in her tracks. "What is _that_?" she asked as she pointed towards the turkey.

"It's a codfish." Pam answered sarcastically.

Marissa ignored Pam. "Steven, you know I don't allow Freddie to eat anything with bones in it! Do you know how big of a choking hazard that could be!"

"Mom!" Freddie whined. He could feel his cheeks turn red from embarrassment.

"Marissa, please. It's Thanksgiving and Freddie's a grown boy I'm sure he can handle eating a turkey." Steven replied in a weary tone.

Marissa scoffed as she grabbed one of the bags Freddie was holding. "No. We are not eating that. We are going to have this for Thanksgiving." she pulled out a package filled with...something.

"What is that?" Sam asked as she leaned over towards Freddie.

Freddie grimaced, recognizing the package. "Turkey flavored tofu."


	13. The Holiday Pt 2

A/N: Um, so this kind of took forever to get up. I blame life. I want to say a HUGE thank you to Arianna4President. She helped me soo much with this chapter and encouraged me to post it already. Hope you readers like it and the next chapter will be up next week! I promise, I've already written more than half of it. The chapters are going to be posted on a weekly basis again. I've found my muse for this story once again. Without further ado, here's the new chapter! :)

* * *

  
The Holiday Pt. 2

Sam heard what Freddie said, but she didn't want to believe him. She laughed. "You almost had me there, Benson!" she said as she slapped his arm.

Freddie looked at her with a frown. "I wasn't joking. That really is tofu."

Sam's eyes widened as she turned to stare at Marissa. She set down the groceries that were still in her hands and marched her way towards Marissa. She grabbed the package of tofu, tossed it on the ground and jumped on it several times. "There is _no way_ I am going to eat _freaking tofu_ on Thanksgiving!"

"Sam!" Steven exclaimed. "You didn't have to do that!" he cried as he bent down and picked up the squished tofu.

Pam smirked. "I thought she did. I'm actually proud of her for doing that."

Marissa stared Sam down. "I knew you were going to do something like that," she hissed. A smile came on her face as she reached into a different bag. "That's why I bought more than one package." she pulled out several more packages filled with the turkey-flavored tofu.

Freddie saw the look on Sam's face and knew she was only seconds away from tackling Marissa to the ground. He quickly grabbed her arm before she could do anything crazy. "Calm down, Sam." he said through clenched teeth.

Sam didn't pay attention to Freddie. "Did you get ham-flavored tofu too?" Sam spat.

"As a matter of fact I did." Marissa said as she pulled out another package. "You have no idea how many vitamins this has. It's filled with good stuff for you growing children."

Sam growled as she tried to charge towards her, but Freddie held her back. "Uh, we'll be in the living room if anyone needs us!" he called out as he started dragging Sam out of the kitchen.

Sam squirmed out of Freddie's grip as soon as they were out of the kitchen. "Why wouldn't you let me at her?" she yelled, slapping his arm in the process.

"Sam! She's my mom! I can't let her be attacked by a beast!" Freddie exclaimed as he rubbed his sore arm.

Sam glared at him after he decided on calling her a beast.

Freddie saw the glare and gulped. "Did I say beast? I, uh, meant...something else...entirely different!"

Sam rolled her eyes as she walked away from him and went back into the living, sitting back down next to Melanie.

Freddie sighed as he followed after her and took his seat.

"I heard yelling in the kitchen..." Melanie started. "Is everything okay?"

"No," Sam said as she crossed her arms. "Mrs. Benson is ruining everything. She brought tofu! _Tofu_, Melanie! Not even you like that junk!"

Melanie grimaced at the mention of tofu. "It is kind of gross."

"You get used to it after the tenth bite." Freddie said, leaning back in the chair.

Melanie looked at Freddie. "Have you ever had real turkey for Thanksgiving?"

Freddie silently shook his head, his gaze on the TV.

"That must've been awful."

Freddie shrugged his shoulders. "You don't miss what you've never had." As he said this, his gaze slowly turned to Sam who happened to be looking at him as well. Freddie mentally shook himself and looked away quickly, knowing that Sam must've done the same thing.

"Freddie! Time to check for ticks!"

Sam unsuccessfully held back a laugh while Freddie groaned. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

Sam, Melanie, and Freddie had stayed in the living room, watching Thanksgiving TV specials while Steven and Pam cooked and Marissa critiqued and tried to prepare the food her way.

It was finally dinnertime and everyone took their seats. Steven sat at the head of the table while Pam sat on the other end. Freddie sat on Steven's left with Marissa next to him. Right across from Freddie sat Sam and Melanie sat next to her.

Sam saw the _real_ turkey and her heart leaped with happiness. But it came right back down when she noticed the lack of ham and in its place was...tofu. There was mashed potatoes and gravy, but the corn had been stuck in a blender and looked like baby food. There were steamy hot bread rolls, but instead of butter next to them, there was 'Please Tell Me This Isn't Butter!' There were plenty of cooked asparagus and baby carrots, but Sam didn't see any cranberry sauce. It was no doubt, Marissa's doing. It probably had too much sugar for her Freddikins.

Sam passed her judgment on the feast without even trying one thing. In three words: it _really_ sucked.

"Well, this looks like a delicious meal...except for the turkey of course." Marissa said.

"Right, because the tofu ham looks _so_ appetizing." Pam said as she rolled her eyes.

"Uh, before we eat," Steven interrupted before another argument could break out, "let's all say what we're thankful for."

Sam's stomach growled loudly. Everyone turned to look at her, some with amused looks and others (well, really only Marissa) with not-so-amused looks. "Sorry, that was just my stomach saying how great an idea that is." Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

Steven narrowed his eyes slightly, but said nothing on the matter. "Pam, why don't you start first."

"Because we all know since she's the 'woman' of the house, she should start first." Marissa said under her breath.

Pam smirked, hearing her snide remark. "Thanks Marissa. I'm glad you've finally accepted that _I'm_ the woman of this household."

Sam groaned inwardly and sunk lower in her seat. She glanced at Freddie and knew from the look on his face he felt just as uncomfortable as she did.

"I'm thankful for Steven, a wonderful man who opened his house to me and my daughters." Pam said with a smile directed towards Steven.

Marissa scoffed.

Pam stared her down. "Is there something stuck in your throat? Because I'd be more than happy to drive you to the emergency room and leave you there."

Marissa glared at Pam before turning to Steven. "Is it my turn?" she asked in a tight voice.

"Uh...sure, go ahead." Steven wasn't sure how this whole thing was going to turn out.

"I'm thankful for my son, Freddie, because I know there is no way he'd ever end up the way his father did." Marissa spoke with a smile plastered on her face. "Especially in the relationship area of his life." she turned to Pam, the smile still on her face.

Sam glowered at Marissa. "Do you got a problem with my mom?" she growled.

"I can go next!" Melanie quickly interrupted and raised her hand.

"Why don't we go ahead and eat? You can say what your thankful for later." Steven said.

Sam's stomach yelped in agreement. She forgot her argument with Marissa and her face brightened. "Let's do it then. I'm so ready to eat those juicy turkey legs." Sam said, grabbing her fork and butter knife and fingering them in her hands.

Steven grabbed the knife to start carving the turkey.

"I'll have the two legs, thank you very much." Sam said as she leaned over and started to pry the legs off herself.

"What are you doing?" Marissa screeched as she leaned over and slapped Sam's hands away. "You're touching the turkey with your dirty hands! Did you even think that someone else might want the turkey legs?"

Sam glared at Marissa. "Fine. I'll ask. Does anyone want a leg?"

Freddie started to raise his hand. "I'd lik-"

"No one? All right then, they're both _mine_." Sam said with another glare directed towards Marissa.

"Freddie was just about to say he wanted one!"

"No he wasn't, right Freddie?" Sam turned to look at Freddie. Her eyes dared him to say he wanted one.

Freddie gulped, hoping no one noticed. "No, I was just going to say I wanted some…ham."

Marissa beamed. "That's my Freddiebear. You eat the stuff that's better for you." She cooed as she pinched his cheek.

"Mom!" Freddie whined as he felt his cheeks beginning to redden.

"Aw, you look cute when you're blushing, Freddie." Melanie said with a light laugh.

Melanie's comment only made Freddie blush even more while Sam turned to glare at her. Even Pam and Marissa raised an eyebrow at her comment. Steven was too busy cutting the turkey to pay attention.

Sam cleared her throat, "Anyways…did you cook the turkey, Mom?" she asked before taking a huge bite out of one of the legs.

Pam nodded her head as she piled her plate with some potatoes and gravy. "Yup and I cooked it just the way you and Mel like it."

Melanie's smile widened. "You marinated it in beer?"

Marissa choked on the mashed corn. "You did _what_?"

"I marinated it in beer." Pam said flippantly, her mouth full of food as she spoke.

Marissa grabbed Freddie's plate and disposed of all the turkey. "I will not allow my son to eat something that was marinated in beer!"

"Come on, Marissa. It isn't going to do anything!" Steven exclaimed, slightly horrified at how much she was over-reacting.

"Yeah, Mrs. Benson. My mom always makes the turkey like this and it tastes amazing. There aren't any alcohol side-effects." Melanie said as she daintily raised her forkful of baby carrots to her mouth.

Pam's fork clattered to her plate and she stared at Melanie in what looked like utter confusion. "What did you just say?"

"Did you just call her 'Mrs. Benson'?" Steven asked right after.

Sam looked at Freddie as he looked at her as well. What did Melanie just do?

"Um…" Melanie worried her bottom lip, barely realizing her mistake.

"Oh my gosh, these potatoes are delicious! Who made them?" Sam asked, trying to change the subject.

"And the gravy tastes just as good. Seriously, who made this?" Freddie added.

"Melanie…answer my question." Pam asked through clenched teeth.

Melanie looked from Freddie to Sam.

"She called me 'Mrs. Benson'." Marissa answered for Melanie.

"Why did you do that? They are _divorced_." Pam hissed, glaring at Melanie the entire time.

Melanie opened her mouth to explain, "It's because…well…remember a couple years ago when I came to visit?"

"Just give me an answer, Melanie."

Sam rolled her eyes. Melanie didn't need to be talked to like this, just because she called Marissa 'Mrs. Benson'. "Everyone calls her 'Mrs. Benson'. I don't know why, but they do. Carly, Spencer, the teachers at Ridgeway, even I would."

Steven turned to look at Marissa who seemed uncomfortable with the discussion. "Why is that, Marissa?"

"Everyone was already used to it and-"

Steven narrowed his gaze. "You didn't change your last name back, did you? You stayed with my name."

Marissa pushed around the mashed corn. "Maybe…"

"Why?" Steven yelled suddenly.

Marissa looked at Steven with a look that could kill. "Because I didn't want the divorce!" she yelled back.

"Um…why don't we just enjoy the food? Let's talk about something else." Freddie suggested quietly.

"Then why were you the one that filed for divorce in the first place!"

"Because you were cheating on me with _three different women_!" Marissa stood up as she yelled this.

Sam's eyes widened at the news before she quickly looked at Freddie. He was staring at Marissa and Steven, confusion and hurt in his eyes.

"You knew." Steven dead-panned.

Marissa clenched her jaw. "Of course I did."

Freddie, having enough of the conversation, stood up. His chair fell backwards to the ground, making a loud clattering noise and scaring everyone. He grabbed his plate, piled it with the turkey Marissa had taken away and walked away. He went out to the backyard and slammed the door on his way out.

The evil glare Marissa had suddenly softened as she looked out the window to try and see Freddie. "Look what you did!" she pointed an accusing finger at Pam.

"Me? You were the one that didn't change your last name!" Pam defended.

"This is no one's fault!" Steven yelled.

"Oh shut up, Steven! No one pulled your freakin' string!" Pam yelled at him.

Somewhere along the way, Melanie had snuck away to Sam's room, taking her plate with her.

Sam looked at the three adults who kept yelling, blaming the person next to them. She shook her head as she grabbed the bowl that held the tofu and mashed corn. She poured the mashed corn in with tofu and began mixing it together until it formed a nasty looking mush.

Marissa, Pam, and Steven were still yelling when the mush Sam created landed in Marissa's face. The yelling immediately stopped and more mush landed in Steven's face as well.

Pam turned to look at Sam and saw her raising a spoon filled with the mush in her direction. "You will be _so_ sorry if you even-"

Sam didn't give Pam chance to finish. She flung the mush in her direction and it landed on her chest, slowly dripping down her shirt.

Sam smiled, satisfied with her work. She stood up. "Since I now have your attention, I've just got one thing to say." Sam took a dramatic pause to look at them all. "All of you are a bunch of _idiots_."

With that being said, Sam took her plate and walked to her room, leaving the three stunned adults in the dining room with a mess of mashed corn and tofu.

* * *

Freddie looked at the only tree in the backyard. It was an old oak tree that was taller than the house. He smiled a little as he looked down at the drawing pad he held. He squinted to be able to see what he was drawing in the dim light from the back porch light.

He was too busy concentrating so when the back door opened he didn't hear it and when someone sat next to him, he barely registered it.

"What are you drawing?"

Freddie jumped in surprise and turned to look at the newcomer. He quickly turned a couple of pages until he was at a blank page. "I wasn't drawing anything important." He said.

"Oh come on. I know you were drawing something. Can I see it? Please?"

"No. Not until it's done."

"Please? I could probably help you!"

"Sam, I said no."

"I'm Melanie."

Freddie squinted his eyes a little and noticed her hair was straightened. "Oh…yeah." He mumbled. "Sorry, I thought you were-"

"Sam, I know." Melanie said with a small smile.

Freddie smiled back before looking at the tree again.

"So what were you drawing?"

Freddie sighed. "If I show you, you have to swear not to tell Sam."

"Are you drawing a picture of her?" Melanie asked. Freddie could've swore he heard a tinge of worry in her voice.

He shook his head, though. "No, I'm not exactly good enough to draw something like that."

Melanie laughed, sounding relieved. "All right, I promise not to tell her. So what is it?"

Freddie turned the page back to his drawing and showed her. It was a drawing of what looked to be a tree house.

"You're drawing a tree house?" Melanie's voice leaned towards being unimpressed.

Freddie didn't notice and smiled proudly. "Yeah. "

"Why don't you want Sam to know?"

"Because…I want to surprise her."

"Okay…?"

"She told me a few weeks ago that it'd be cool to have a tree house. So I decided to try and build her one." Freddie explained.

If it had been lighter, Freddie would've seen the hurt look on Melanie's face as she looked away from him. "You're so sweet." She said a bit softly.

Freddie shrugged his shoulders. "Not really. It's just an excuse for me to get out of the house and away from her. And when it's done, hopefully she'll be spending all her time outside and away from me."

Melanie laughed a little, letting the silence return. She glanced at the emptied plate on the floor and remembered her reason for coming out here. "So how are you doing? I mean with that whole argument at dinner."

Freddie sighed and looked at the tree again. He didn't want to talk about it, but he had a feeling Melanie wouldn't leave him alone if he didn't talk about it. "I never knew what really happened. I had always assumed that it was a mutual agreement, that they just didn't like each other anymore, or something like that. I never thought it was because my dad…cheated."

Melanie pursed her lips as she gave the porch swing a gentle push. "Yeah, having parents that are going through a divorce is always hard."

Freddie looked at Melanie with interest. "Your parents are divorced?"

She shook her. "No, my parents were never married. A few years after me and Sam were born, they just split. They may not have been married, but it still affected Sam and me. Probably not as much as it would've if they had been married and we had been older though.

Freddie hummed in response and let the silence return. That is, of course, until Melanie said something again.

"So you never answered my question. Are you okay?"

Freddie didn't look at her as he mulled over the question. "I honestly don't know the answer to that right now."

Melanie placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's going to be all right, Freddie."

Freddie looked over at her and smiled. It was nice of her to make sure he was all right.

Her next move was something he could've lived without though. She leaned over and pulled him into a tight hug. It was a surprise to Freddie and it wasn't a pleasant surprise. He didn't know how to respond. He placed his arms around her thin frame a bit awkwardly.

The hug lasted seven seconds and it was seven seconds too long for Freddie. He pulled back as soon as he felt Melanie's arms slowly leaving him and did his best to scoot away inconspicuously.

Melanie looked at him with an odd look on her face. "Are you okay? You look kind of…weird."

Freddie swallowed hard and nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm perfectly fine." Except for the fact that he felt as if he just betrayed Sam, his best friend. Wait, he needed to back pedal on that thought. He felt as if he just betrayed Sam, his good frenemy. Yeah, that sounded better.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going inside. It's cold out here." Freddie said before the awkward silence could last any longer.

"Okay. Don't lock the door. I wanted to stay out for a little bit longer." Melanie said, rubbing her arms gently.

Freddie nodded his head as he walked back inside. Once inside, he felt as if he could breathe. Of course he breathed in the familiar scent of bleach and knew his mother was still here. He groaned. When would this holiday be over already?

* * *

Sam stared at the ceiling still unable to believe what happened at dinner. After she yelled at the adults, she came straight to her room. Melanie was already there was on her computer typing something up. It was probably an essay or something just as nerdy for school.

They could hear the adults still arguing, but it finally stopped after a few minutes. They could hear Mrs. Benson cleaning in the kitchen while Pam and Steven had gone upstairs. Sam wondered if they were still arguing.

Melanie had gotten up a couple minutes after the yelling stopped and said she was going to use the restroom. It had been an hour and she still wasn't back yet.

Sam wasn't worried about her, she just wondered if Melanie managed to get lost. It _had _been over an hour. She looked over at Willie and Dusty and decided they could use a few carrots. Plus, she could look for Melanie while getting the carrots.

So she got up, headed to the kitchen and grabbed the carrots. Just as she was about to leave, she saw two people outside on the porch swing. She knew one of them was Freddie, but who was the other person? From the blondness of the hair, she knew it wasn't Marissa or Steven. There was only Pam and Melanie, but why would Pam be outside talking with Freddie.

There was only one logical answer. Melanie.

Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw Melanie turn her head to look at Freddie. They were talking about something and Freddie seemed uncomfortable with the situation.

Sam kept watching until she saw Melanie lean in to hug Freddie. Her heart dropped as she saw Freddie hug her back. She tried her best to look away, but she couldn't. The stupid hug was lasting more than a friendly hug!

Sam clenched her jaw, not wanting to see anymore, and turned on her heel to her room. She headed to her rabbit's cage, dropped the carrots in it then flopped back on her bed. She hated her stupid feelings. They were going against everything that her brain was yelling at her. Why did her feet have to grow cold and a horrible feeling come in the pit of her stomach as she watched her twin sister hugging Freddie tightly, as if they were dating? Her brain was yelling for her to forget about it. It was Freddie's life; he could live it the way he wanted to. She had no say so.

She heard the back door open. She figured it was Freddie because she heard his door from across the hall open and close. A couple minutes later, Melanie came in the room and had a weird look on her face.

Sam wanted to know why she didn't have a victorious smile on her face, but didn't feel like actually sat on the bed next to Sam. "Guys can be so confusing sometimes."

"Really." Sam did her best to make her voice sound uninterested.

"Yes, really. For example, take Freddie. He-"

Melanie's phone started ringing and she picked it up before finishing her sentence. "Hello?" she asked with a small frown. Her cheeks suddenly reddened and she turned away from Sam. "How did you get my number?" she asked with a smile. She laughed after a moment. "Oh my gosh, are you serious?"

Sam rolled her eyes before getting up and walking out of the room. She went into the living room and turned on the TV. She flipped through the channels until she found an old horror movie playing. She adjusted herself on the couch until she was comfortable enough.

She didn't know how long she had been there, but her eyes had started drooping when someone joined her on the couch.

"Are you even watching that?"

Sam turned to glare at Freddie as he disturbed her peace. She was mad at him. In her mind she argued that it was because he let his mom feed them tofu, but she knew that wasn't the real reason. "Why are you here? Won't your mom freak out if she finds out you're up this late?"

Freddie sighed as he stared at the clock above the TV. It was an un-Godly hour to be awake. "I'm not tired."

Sam scoffed before turning her attention back to the TV.

"Sam, I've got to tell you something. It's been bothering me this entire night." Freddie said, once again breaking the silence.

Sam didn't look at him. "Feel bad about what happened at dinner?"

"That too, but something else. I don't know…it just feels weird not telling you about it."

Sam looked at Freddie, her interest renewed. "What is it?"

"Don't freak out or get mad at me or…someone else."

Sam narrowed her eyes. She had a feeling she knew where this was going. "Just say it."

Freddie swallowed hard. "I think your sister is hitting on me. And it's weird because she's your _twin_ sister! Don't get me wrong, she's pretty hot, but you two look way too much alike, but don't even act like each other!"

Sam raised her eyebrow. "Dude, you just called my sister 'hot'." She deadpanned.

Freddie groaned. It was the late hour that was making him say the wrong things. "I'm sorry, but I really think she is. You should take that as a compliment too since you look just like her, if not better."

Sam raised her eyebrow with a smirk this time. "Did you just call _me_ hot?"

Even in the dark, Sam could see Freddie's cheeks turning red. "I didn't say that…I just said you look like her and…" he groaned, realizing he wasn't going to win this. "I'm just saying all this stuff and rambling because I didn't want you to somehow find out something from Melanie and think we were dating, even though we aren't. I just…I didn't want you to end up getting mad because you thought that I was trying to hide something from you."

Sam stared Freddie down, feeling pleased that he was beginning to squirm. She smiled as she felt her anger levels lowering. "Thanks for telling me, Fredwardo. And I'm glad you're not dating my sister. That'd be too weird."

"Yeah, considering our parents are dating."

Freddie and Sam both gagged at this before erupting into laughter.

Neither mentioned why they were glad why Freddie wasn't dating Melanie. Freddie didn't want to date Melanie because she looked too much like Sam, but acted nothing like her. It'd almost be like getting half of one amazing person. Sam didn't want Freddie dating Melanie because it was her sister and she didn't see it as fair, but she refused to call it jealousy. 


	14. The Nap

A/N: Yes! I got this chapter up on schedule! Now if only I can keep this up...hope you readers like this. I think the beginning is kind of weird, but I love the ending! So you have to read the whole chapter to get to the really _really_ good part. Thank you everyone who's reviewed, it'd be awesome if you reviewed again and if more people reviewed that'd be double awesome! So enjoy! Oh, but something completely off topic, I can't wait until the new episode! It has to be amazing! Even my little brother believes Seddie will happen! Okay, that's really it. Hope you like the new chapter :)

* * *

The Nap

"So what do you think of this movie?" Sam asked as she pointed to the TV screen with her remote. She fought to keep her eyes opened as she waited for Freddie's answer.

"It's all right." Freddie mumbled. Freddie was trying to stay awake as well.

"Mmm…that's nice." Sam let her eyes close and her head slowly fell to the side.

When it fell to the side, it just so happened to fall onto Freddie's shoulder. Freddie's mind woke up when her head made contact with his shoulder. It felt pretty nice to have her head resting there, but he knew that if she woke up there would be a one-man riot. "Sam, I think we should be getting to bed now."  
Sam mumbled incoherently and moved closer to Freddie.

Freddie gulped. This was wrong. This was _Sam_. He had to wake her up or at least move her. "Come on, Sam. You're going to slobber all over my shirt." He gave her a small shove.

Sam groaned as she sat up and scowled at Freddie. "Why'd you do that for?"

"Because you should really fall asleep on your own bed."

Sam rubbed her eyes as she turned to look at the time. "Crap, it's eight in the morning already."

Freddie stood up and helped Sam up. "Which is why we should be getting some sleep while we still can."

"Fine. Night Freddie."

Freddie smiled a little. "Morning Sam."

Sam glared at him again before they made their way down the hallway and into their own separate rooms.

Sam collapsed on the bed and crawled under the warm covers. Even in her sleep deprived state of mind, she couldn't believe she had stayed up the entire night watching movies and talking with Freddie. But nothing happened and nothing was 'revealed' so it was okay.

As her eyes closed and her mind was about to shut off to sleep, someone turned on the light and jumped on her bed.

"Sam! Wake up! I have to tell you something!"

Sam muttered unintelligible language as she opened her eyes to see Melanie right in her face. "What do you want?" she growled.

Melanie's smile stretched from ear to ear. "You will never guess who called me last night."

"Was it the President of France?" Sam asked sarcastically.

Melanie rolled her eyes. "No, try again."

"Mel, I'm super tired right now. Can you just go away and let me sleep." Sam groaned as she closed her eyes again and hid under the covers.

"Come on, Sam! I really want to tell someone!"

"Then why don't you go talk to that skevy guy at deli across from Carly's place?"

"Sam!"

Sam groaned and forced herself to sit up. Knowing Melanie, she wasn't going to leave until she told Sam what happened. "What?" she snapped.

"Okay, so you know how there's a guy's boarding school across from my school and sometimes all the students get together for dances and stuff."

Sam nodded her head and tried to be patient. She knew it might take a while for Melanie to finally get to the point.

"Last week they had a dance before we left for Thanksgiving break. So me and my friends were hanging out by the punch bowl and just talking. Sometimes a guy would come up to us and ask one of us to dance-"

"Would you just tell me who called you last night?" Sam yelled.

Melanie frowned. "Goodness, Sam. I'm just making sure you know the whole story before I tell you."

Sam narrowed her eyes and began speaking through clenched teeth. "I don't want to know the whole freaking story, just tell me who called you last night."

Melanie ignored Sam's tone of voice. "His name is Greg. Greg Beasley. He is like the hottest, most popular guy at school. He called me last night and wanted to know if we could hang out when I got back!"

Sam frowned. Wasn't it only just yesterday that Melanie said she thought there was a chance Freddie could be 'the one'? And from what she understood, Melanie had been throwing herself at Freddie. She didn't want to ask, but she knew she had to. "What about Freddie?"

Melanie laughed. "Oh him? Yeah, I don't think it would work out between us. I mean, he's a great guy and everything, but to be honest I think he's got a thing for someone else." She had a smirk on her face as if she knew something Sam didn't know.

Sam rolled her eyes at Melanie's ability to go from guy to guy. "Whatever. You told me who called you last night so can you please go away so I can sleep."

Melanie got up. "Did you get any sleep last night?"

Sam wished Melanie would just leave or stop talking already. In fact, both would be nice. "No, Melanie. I stayed up the entire night watching movies and talking." Sam muttered as she buried herself under the covers again.

"With who?"

"Will you leave if I tell you?"

"Yup. I'll even turn off the light."

Sam sighed. She wondered if she told Melanie the truth, would she suspect something more going on. There really wasn't anything more going on. They were just friends. Really. "Freddie, now leave."

"Freddie? Are you serious? What were you talking about?"

"Melanie…"

"All right, I'll leave. But don't think I'm going to forget about this." She said in a singsong voice. She turned off the light and left, just as she promised.

Sam groaned as she closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep. She was never going to hear the end of this from Melanie.

"Sam! What are you doing still in bed! Get up right now and go eat some left-overs or something." Pam came in the room nearly seconds after Melanie left and yelled. Sam was just about to start dreaming.

Sam's eyes shot opened and she muttered some curses as she sat up and stared at her mom.

Pam stared back at her with her arms crossed, but Sam noticed her eyes looked a little puffy and blood shoot. Even if she was half-asleep, she knew Pam's eyes weren't supposed to look like that.

"Are you okay?" she questioned quietly.

Pam narrowed her eyes but sniffled a little. "Yeah, I'm fine." She said softly. "Just get up already. It's time to get going."

Sam watched Pam walk out of the room with her shoulders slouched just a little bit.

It was obvious something happened last night, probably between her and Steven. Sam groaned inwardly. Whatever happened, it was bad.

* * *

Freddie slowly made his way to his bed and crawled under the covers. A content smile was on his face as he closed his eyes and started drifting off to sleep. His mind was winding down from the 'Sam on his shoulder' scare, just like he wanted it to.

"Freddie! What in the world are you doing still in bed? Do you know how late it is?"

Freddie's blood-shot eyes flew open when he heard his mom come in. She pulled open the blinds and Freddie's arm shot up to cover his eyes. "Mom, what are you doing in here?" Freddie whined.

"I'm waking you up. What else could I be doing?" Marissa said with a smile as she sat down on the bed. "Now pull away your arm and let me see that pretty face of yours."

"Mom!" Freddie groaned, rolling over to face his back towards her.

"Freddie, what's wrong? Are you feeling okay? Did you get enough sleep last night? Was your stomach hurting? I knew that turkey would mess up your stomach! I told you not to-"

Freddie, hearing enough of his mom, sat up, and yelled. "Stop! Just stop it, Mom!"

Marissa frowned, taken aback by his outburst. "I just want to be sure you're fine."

"I'll be perfectly fine once you leave my room."

Marissa pursed her lips and looked down. "This is about what happened last night…what was said about your father."

Freddie shook his head. "Mom, please. Just go."

Marissa stood up and gave Freddie a small kiss on the top of his head. "I love you, Freddie."

Freddie gave his mom a small smile, feeling she deserved at least that. "Yeah, Mom. I know you do."

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" she asked from the doorway.

Freddie shook his head. "No, I talked with Sam about it." He mumbled, remembering what happened last night, or really a few hours ago.

"You talked with _her_?"

Freddie closed his eyes and groaned again. He didn't think she would hear him. "Yes, Mom. I talked with Sam."

"Oh really? And what kind of crack advice did she give you?" Marissa asked with her arms crossed.

Freddie narrowed his eyes. "She didn't give me any advice. She just listened and that's what I needed."

That's really all that Sam had done. She listened to him while he talked. Once he finished spilling his guts to her, she turned to the TV and commented on how tiny one of the actresses was. They had laughed and Freddie knew that was Sam's way of comforting him.

"Freddie, if she's like her mother-"

"Mom, don't. It's way too early in the morning and I just want to sleep. So please, can you just leave?"

"Okay…fine." Marissa said. "But I just want you to know that I'm really leaving."

"Okay. Good night." Freddie muttered as he laid back down and covered himself up.

"I'm leaving to the _airport_, my flight is leaving in an hour."

Freddie sat up and looked at his mom. "You're not staying for a little bit longer?"

"No. I actually don't think I should."

While Freddie did find his mom annoying and bossy and over-protective, he still loved her. He got up and gave her a hug. "I love you, Mom. Hope you get there safely."

Marissa smiled fondly as she rubbed the top of his head. "I love you too, Freddie. Behave for your father."

Freddie nodded his head and let go of her. She walked out of the door and Freddie followed after her.

Steven was already standing in the doorway, waiting for Marissa.

Freddie leaned against the wall as Marissa stood in front of Steven.

"Thank you for coming Marissa." Steven said in a harsh tone. "I hope you get home safely."

"Is Pam not going to say bye?"

Steven visibly narrowed his eyes. "No, you just missed her. She went upstairs a few minutes ago."

Marissa nodded her head and grabbed the handle to her suitcase. "Well then. I guess I'll be leaving. I expect Freddie to be well taken care of."

"I know. I don't need to be told twice."

Marissa scoffed. "If you'll excuse me, I think my cab is here."

Steven opened the door for her and sure enough, a cab was already waiting for her. Marissa grabbed her suitcase and carry-on bag and walked out of the house, not looking back once.

Steven shut the door and turned to look at Freddie. He did his best to smile, but it just faded away. "Freddie…about last night-"

Freddie shook his head. "I really don't want to hear it." The rude tone he used would've been corrected in any other situation, but not in this one.

* * *

Sam pushed the scrambled eggs around on her plate. She was too tired to eat and that was saying something. Melanie was in the chair next to her, eating her breakfast in delicate bites while texting, no doubt the guy that called her last night. Was it Gary?

Freddie came into the kitchen, looking just as miserable as Sam. "Morning," he mumbled as he headed to the counter and made himself some coffee.

Sam grunted in reply while Melanie gave a happy 'good morning'.

"So Freddie…how did you sleep last night?" Melanie asked with a mischievous smile. Her eyes darted towards Sam before settling back on Freddie.

"Fine." Freddie's reply sounded a bit snappy, but Melanie knew it was because he was just as sleepy as Sam.

"What's up, dipwad?" Sam might've been tired, but she was never too tired to call Freddie names.

Freddie stared at the table while answering. "My mom just left."

"Oh yeah, I saw her getting her bags together. I didn't think she would leave so soon." Melanie said.

"Well, she left already."

"I doubt she'll be making any surprise visits anytime soon." Sam said with a small smirk.

Freddie chuckled. "Yeah. That's probably a good thing."

Sam turned to Melanie. "When are you leaving?"

Melanie looked up from her phone with a blank look. It went away after a few seconds, though as her mind finally processed what Sam asked. "I've got to be back by tomorrow morning. So I'm taking a train tonight. I think it leaves around six."

"You couldn't get something sooner?" Sam grumbled.

Melanie glared at her. "I know you love me, Sam, so I'm just going to completely blow off that comment." She ended with a smile. She picked up her mess from the table and walked away, most likely heading to Sam's room to text in peace.

Freddie sipped the coffee and grimaced.

"So…" Sam said looking at the table. "Are you really okay?"

Freddie sighed. "Besides the fact that I'm super tired and I'm still trying to digest how my parents really split up? Yeah, I'm doing great."

Sam reached over and patted his hand. "Don't worry, Frederly. It'll get better."

Freddie smiled as he looked down at his hand being covered by Sam's. He suddenly frowned. She was touching him voluntarily now?

Sam shifted and quickly pulled her hand back. She started to pretend that didn't happen. "I don't know about you, but I'm going to go get some sleep. I don't care if my mom said it was time for me to get up, I'm tired. Later nub." Sam said as she got up and headed towards her room.

Freddie stared at the coffee in front of him. He hated the taste and it probably wasn't going to do him any good. Sleep sounded nice. He left the cup on the table and went to his own room.

* * *

"I can't wait to get back to school. I mean, this place is nice and everything, but I miss all my friends." Melanie said while she folded her shirts.

Sam covered her ears, but couldn't block out Melanie's voice. "Why did you even pack so much stuff? You knew you were only going to be here for a few days."

"I had to be prepared to every situation. Like what if an unexpected heat wave came in? I wouldn't have anything to wear but jeans and long sleeve shirts. I had to pack a few tank tops and shorts."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Yeah, like a heat wave now is even possible." She grumbled.

"Anyways, I'm pretty sure we're going to have to write a paper when school starts. I hope it's about the art of turkey farming. I've always wanted to study about that. But I don't want to study about those horrible turkey farms that most stores get their turkeys from. No, I want to study about the nice farms where they treat their turkeys nice and even give them massages! Wouldn't it be cool if-"

"Melanie, could you shut up!" Sam yelled from under the covers.

"Geez, Sam. You don't have to yell at me. I can hear you perfectly fine."

"Can't you pack later?"

"No, I want to finish packing now."

"Then turn off the light and shut up. I'm trying to take a nap."

"I need the light on Sam. If you really want to take a nap in peace, go somewhere else."

Sam felt her blood begin to boil, but she was too tired to care. She got up while grumbling under her breath and left the room. She walked down the hallway to a spare bedroom and opened the door. She sighed happily as she stared at the bed in front of her.

She closed the curtains before curling under the covers and finally falling asleep.

* * *

Freddie was nearly asleep when he faintly heard the door open.

"Freddie? What are you still doing in bed? You need to get up already."

Freddie rolled around and opened his eyes to stare at Steven. "I can't take a nap?"

"No. I don't want my son to grow up only to become lazy."

Freddie rolled his eyes, not wanting to talk to his dad at all. He turned back around and closed his eyes. His plan was to ignore Steven.

"Besides, the maid is here to deep clean your room."

Freddie sat up this time and shot Steven an incredulous look. "The maid? You don't have a maid."

"Yes I do. Whenever she comes, she just cleans certain rooms. Today she's cleaning your room and a few other rooms upstairs."

"Why don't I ever see her?"

"Because she only comes on Fridays when you're in school. Now get out because she's going to start here first."

Freddie glared at Steven, but did as he asked and left the room. Freddie wasn't going to let that stop him from taking a nap though. He headed down the hallway and walked into one of the spare bedrooms.

The curtains were closed, so it was relatively dark in the room. He saw the bed, but barely registered the large lump on the far left side of it. He climbed on the bed and laid down the right side, finally able to get the nap that he wanted.

* * *

Melanie slowly opened the door to one of the guest rooms. She had a question to ask Sam, but was having no luck in actually finding her. This would be her fifth room to look in.

"Sam?" she called out in a loud whisper. "Are you in here?" she was about to turn on the light when she saw movement on the bed. If she squinted her eyes, she could make out blonde hair splayed out on the pillow.

It was probably Sam. She finally found a spot to take a nap. Melanie was about to leave, but noticed something that was a little off. There was an arm hanging off the side of the bed, but it didn't belong to Sam.

Melanie took a few steps closer and almost burst into laughter. Sam was on the bed all right...with Freddie right next to her. Actually, Freddie had his arm wrapped around Sam's waist and Sam looked extremely comfortable. They were practically spooning!

Melanie couldn't let a moment like this pass her by. She pulled out her phone and quickly took a picture and sent the photo to the one person she knew would be highly amused with it.

* * *

Carly watched the TV with absolutely no interest. They were showing 'A Christmas Carol' for the fifth time in a row. She couldn't change the channel though because everything else was off-air. She hated Yakima.

"What you doing, kiddo?" Spencer asked as he sat next to her on the couch.

"Trying to figure out how to cure boredom." Carly replied.

Spencer chuckled. "You know when Dad would bring me here for vacation, I would get so bored that I would-"

"Oh that's interesting." Carly interrupted, still staring at the TV.

Spencer glared at Carly before giving her a shove. "I think you've been hanging around Sam _too_ much."

Carly laughed and groaned at the same time, making a weird noise. "I miss Sam…and Freddie."

"Well why don't you…oh this is 'A Christmas Carol'! I love this movie!" Spencer exclaimed, making himself more comfortable on the couch.

Carly shook her head at Spencer's behavior. They kept watching TV for a while when Carly's phone buzzed. She looked at it and smiled.

"Who's it from?" Spencer asked, leaning over and trying to see what she received.

"It's from Melanie. It's a picture message."

"Sweet! Hurry up and open it!"

Carly waited for her phone to download the image and when it finally did, she nearly dropped it from shock.

"What? Was that…Sam…but Freddie?...How…? They're…spooning!" Spencer cried out.

Carly suddenly started laughing. "Oh man, I _have_ to call Sam! I can't believe this is happening!"

* * *

Sam let out a soft groan when she felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. Whoever was calling her, she was going to have to kill…unless it was Carly. She could forgive her. She sat up and answered her phone. "What?" she snapped.

_"How could you not call me?"_

Sam winced as Carly yelled at her. "Was I supposed to?"

_"Duh! I thought we agreed you would tell me right away when something finally happened!"_

"Carly, what are you talking about?"

_"You and Freddie spooning!"_

Sam frowned. What was Carly talking about? Sam slowly turned her head and looked to her right. All her breath left her as she made out the familiar form. "Freddie? What the heck are you doing?" she screamed and pushed him off the bed.


	15. The Dare

A/N: New chapter. Yes, it's a little late, sorry, but it's here! Hope you enjoy it. Kind of had a hard time writing it towards the middle, but towards the end, I loved writing it! I actually can't wait until I sit down and write the next chapter! Maybe if I get a whole bunch of reviews, I'll have more incentive to post the chapter real soon? But no promises. The next chapter should be up within a week though. Read this, enjoy this, and review this :)

* * *

The Dare

Why did things like this always have to happen to him? Did he do something wrong? Did someone curse him for the rest of his life? Was the universe just upset and wanted to take it out on him? He should've known better. As soon as he was finally able to get some rest, something terrible was bound to happen to him. That's just the way it was. The world was a cold, unfair place that refused to let Freddie nap in peace.

"Freddie? What the heck are you doing?"

Freddie stared at Sam in shock as he pulled himself up from the bed. "What are you talking about? I was _sleeping_! What are you doing here?"

"Sleeping, what else would I be doing? But I was here first! I was the one that came into the _empty_ room, closed the curtains and fell asleep in the bed!"

Freddie slowly processed this information and came to the realization that…well technically it was his fault. "Oh…I guess…I didn't see you?"

Sam reached over and whacked the side of his head. "You're such a dofus!"

"I didn't even do anything!"

"Then why did Carly call me and ask why we were spooning!"

Freddie frowned. Spooning? His mind pulled up a nice, warm feeling while he slept. It wasn't a regular nice, warm feeling though. It was something completely different. Freddie wondered if he should even call it a nice, warm feeling. Did he feel that while he was supposedly spooning with Sam? "I have no idea what you're talking about." He finally said.

Sam rolled her eyes and threw a pillow at his head. "Whatever. I'm going to find my own room to sleep in. And I'm so going to kill Melanie for sending her a picture." she grumbled as she walked out of the room.

Freddie sighed as he sat on the bed. He could faintly hear someone yelling. He turned and saw Sam's phone still on the bed. He grabbed it and pressed it to his ear. "Hello?"

_"Freddie! What is going on? Why were you spooning with Sam?"_

Freddie groaned into his hands. "It was an accident, Carly."  
_  
"Where's Sam? I need to talk to her right now."_

"She went to find a place to take a nap. But I think she was going to yell at Melanie first."

_"Well wherever she is, tell her I want to speak to her!"_

"Are you kidding me? Me talking to her right now would be as bad as sneaking up on a rattlesnake!"

_"Freddie, please!"_

"Nope. Talk to you later, Carly."

_ "Freddie don't you dare hang up on me!"_

Freddie pulled the phone away from his ear and ended the call. "Might as well finish my nap." Freddie mumbled as he lay back down to sleep. But all he could think about was that _wonderful_ feeling he had while spooning with Sam. He may not have remembered it directly, but deep inside his brain he did.

* * *

Sam leaned against the wall as she waited for Melanie to finish saying bye to Pam.

"Please don't forget to read that e-mail the principal sent out. It's about an award he wants to present to me, but he can't until he has your permission." Melanie said as she pulled away from hugging Pam.

"Don't worry Melanie. When have I ever forgotten to do anything?"

"You could write a book on all the times you've forgotten to do something important." Sam said dryly.

Pam shot Sam a dark look. "I wasn't asking you to voice your opinion."

"And yet I did."

"Sam, I dare you to-"

"So I think my taxi is about to leave!" Melanie interrupted her mother and sister.

"See you later, Melanie." Sam waved. She would've given her a hug, but she was still mad at her for sending the picture to Carly.

Melanie smiled and gave Sam a hug. "Yeah, see you later too, Sam." Melanie pulled away and looked at Pam. "Where's Steven?"

Sam noticed Pam tensing up. Melanie didn't notice it, though. Another sign that Pam and Steven had a fight.

"He went out to get some groceries. Said he was sorry he wasn't going to be able to say bye." Pam answered.

"You're leaving already? Isn't it still early."

The three turned around and saw Freddie coming towards them.

"Yeah, but the cab is outside waiting for me."

"She wants to leave early so she can make sure she makes it to the train station on time." Sam clarified for Freddie.

"Sam, you know that every time I come back home, I always end up late for my flight, bus, or train. I want to be early for once. Anyways, it was nice to see you again, Freddie." Melanie said with a smile.

"Uh…it was nice seeing you too." Freddie said, standing right next to Sam.

Melanie grinned as she gave him a hug. She could feel Sam's glare on her the entire time. "Good luck. You're going to need it in the next few weeks." She whispered in his ear.

Freddie frowned. "What do you mean?"

She pulled away and winked at him. "I think you'll figure it out."

The cab driver honked his horn and Melanie jumped. "Oh, I better get going. I loved seeing all of you. Hope I get to see you sometime soon!" she said while waving as she walked out the door.

Sam was the one to shut the door and let out a relieved sigh. "Finally. All the guests are gone." She muttered.

Pam narrowed her eyes. "Can't you pretend you enjoyed seeing your sister?"

Sam put on a noticeably fake smile. "Oh yeah, Mom. It was great seeing Melanie again. I just love her to death." She said as sarcastically as possible.

Freddie stifled a laugh as Pam continued to stare Sam down. The door opened though and interrupted any future argument Pam was about to have with Sam. Steven walked in. You could feel the tension enter right behind him.

"Steven. Back so soon?" Pam asked as she crossed her arms.

"Pam, I told you I was just going to run to get some milk." Steven said, holding up his bag as evidence.

"Huh, well I don't remember hearing that. Melanie left already. You actually just missed her."

"You couldn't have asked her to wait?"

"No. I didn't see any reason for her to wait any longer. She was going to be late for the train."

Freddie leaned over to whisper in Sam's ear. "I thought she said she was actually leaving early?"

Sam nodded her head.

"I wanted to say bye to her, Pam." Steven sounded as if he was doing his best to keep the volume of his voice in check.

"Maybe we should leave, Sam." Freddie whispered as he grabbed Sam's elbow and started leading her towards the hall.

"But I want to hear what's going on!" Sam hissed, but she didn't pull away from his grip. Instead, she continued letting him lead her to the kitchen.

Sam jumped on the counter and sat there as she watched Freddie look through the fridge. "Why couldn't we have stayed? Maybe we would've found something interesting out?"

"It's none of our business, Sam. Do you want some left-overs?"

"Yeah, but don't give me none of that junk your mom made. And I think it is our business since it is our parents. We should know every detail that's going on in their lives."

Freddie shook his head as he put some food on a plate and popped it into the microwave. "Sometimes you just have to let things go and find out later."

"Kind of like what happened to you?" Sam shot back. Her eyes widened as she realized what she just said. "That came out wrong."

"It's all right." Freddie mumbled. He handed Sam a plate full of warm food and sat next to her. He gave her a fork and with his own fork started eating from her plate.

Sam didn't swipe at his hand as he grabbed food from her plate. "I guess you are right about not getting involved though."

Freddie raised an eyebrow. "Wow, Sam Puckett finally admitting I'm right!"

Sam rolled her eyes and gave Freddie a good shove. "Shut up. I'm trying to be serious here, Fredork."

"Okay, I'm sorry. What made you change your mind so fast though?" Freddie asked with interest.

Sam started moving the food around. "I guess I kind of remembered when I got involved in something with _my_ parents. I didn't get super involved, but I opened my mouth."

"Back when your parents were still together?"

Sam nodded her head. "I mean, I was little when it happened, but I always had a feeling my parents were never going to stick together. About a week before my dad left, he bought me a bunny. I named him Mr. Fluffels and I loved that animal so much! A week later I come home from daycare and Dad was gone. My mom told Melanie and me that he left.

"I started yelling at her and called her a liar, and probably a bunch of other things. Then I grabbed Mr. Fluffels and shoved him in her face and said she couldn't let dad leave because he was supposed to help me take care of Mr. Fluffels. Next morning, I wake up and Mr. Fluffels was gone. My mom said he ran away, but I found out later on that she sold him. And to foreigners of all people!"

Freddie chuckled softly at the ending of the story. "So that's why you like bunnies so much."

Sam smiled, kicking her feet together. "Yeah, I guess you finally pulled the story out of me."

"Do you still talk to him?"

"Mr. Fluffels? Don't be an idiot, Freddie. Of course I don't." Sam growled.

Freddie resisted rolling his eyes. "No, I was talking about your dad."

"Oh…yeah, I still talk to him. He would call me every week when he first left, but when I got older he stopped calling and instead sent me e-mails."

"Does he still live in the area?"

"Nope. He lives in Ireland."

Freddie actually rolled his eyes this time. "Right, Sam. I'm so sure your dad lives in Ireland. Why would he live all the way over there?"

"Because he has a job there and that's where he's from originally anyways."

"Of course Sam, whatever you say. I really don't believe you though."

"Nice, this is going to be one of those times where your refuse to believe me and then end up completely humiliating yourself because you didn't believe me!" Sam said with an excited grin..

"I've never humiliated myself because I didn't believe you!"

"Uh, yeah you have!"

"Name one time!"

"The first time you met Melanie."

Freddie glared at her. "That was different!"

"How?"

"Because I didn't humiliate myself!"

Sam laughed. "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Because when Melanie came back from her little 'date' with you, she said you were probably one of the worse kissers ever."

Freddie felt his cheeks grow warm and knew they were probably as red as cherries. "She did not!"

Sam grinned evilly. "You bet she did. Don't worry, nub. I know you're not that bad of a kisser. You're actually pretty good at it."  
Freddie's mind tried to process what Sam had said as quick as possible. "I…what?"

Freddie had responded too late as Sam was already making her way towards her room. Was Sam acknowledging the kiss they had in the closet? He thought they agreed never to mention it. Or was it the one on the fire escape back at Bushwell. But that kiss never happened either!

His mind was going to go crazy trying to figure out which kiss she was talking about. Maybe she was talking about the one she enjoyed the most. But which one was that one? And did she even enjoy one of the kisses? Or maybe she enjoyed both. But neither of those kisses actually happened.

At least that's what they had agreed on after they actually kissed.

* * *

Sunday morning finally came and Sam couldn't be happier. Not only were all the houseguests gone, but also Carly was back from Yakima. Sure, there was still a lot of tension between Pam and Steven, but if Sam left the house she wouldn't have to deal with it. Freddie said to stay out of their problems anyways.

"Mom, I'm going to Carly's!" Sam yelled as she walked with her ham sandwich to the door.

Freddie came out of his room before Sam could leave. "Carly's back?"

"Yeah, Spencer sent me a text. He said they were going to be back by nine. It's eleven so they should already be here."

"Cool. Then I'm coming." Freddie said as he put on a jacket.

Sam sighed. "Fine."

"Where are you two going?" Steven asked as he came downstairs.

"I just said we were going to Carly's." Sam answered in an annoyed tone.

"And you're going walking? It's cold outside. What if I give you a ride?"

"No, we're fine." Freddie answered before Sam could accept his offer.

"Okay. Well, just call me if you need me to pick you up or something."

"We'll be fine. And if we need to be taken home, then I'll just ask Spencer." Sam said. "Now we're leaving. See you later."

Freddie and Sam left the house and as soon as they were past the driveway, Sam punched Freddie on the arm.

"Ow! What was that for?" Freddie yelled as he rubbed his fresh bruise.

"That was for saying no when Steven offered to give us a ride."

"I didn't want a ride from him."

"Freddie…it's going to suck to hear this from me, but you need to get over it. Talk to him and get over it."

Freddie kicked a rock as they crossed a street. "I know, but I don't want to talk to him. I _can't_ talk to him."

"Seriously?" Sam said with narrowed eyes.

Freddie sighed. "Yes, seriously. I know I should, but he cheated with three women! That completely messes up how I see him."

Sam stopped him and made him look at her. "That makes him a jerk for doing something like that and it makes it worse that your parents kept it from you, but it would be a jerk move of you if you stopped talking to him. He's your dad, Freddie."

Freddie gave Sam a long stare. He knew she was right; he just hated to admit it. "All right…I'll talk to him later. But it's just that…I mean, I never expected something like that from him and what if…you know how they always say 'like father, like son'…"

"Freddie Benson you listen to me right now and you better listen good. You are not like your dad. Okay, maybe that's a lie since you're a total geeky nerd and so is Steven, but I know that you'd never cheat on your girlfriend. Sure, you've only had one real girlfriend, even if it was Carly and I don't even think that should count, but I don't see you as that kind of guy. You are not and will never become that kind of guy. You're a lot of things, Freddie, mostly a nerd, geek, loser, dipwad, things like that, but one thing you aren't is a jerk."

Freddie couldn't keep a slightly shocked look from his face. Sam was actually saying he was nice guy, despite all the other insults packed into her little speech. He was so pleased with her compliment that he didn't even feel like pointing out the fact that he's had more than one girlfriend. "Wow. I had no idea you thought of me like that."

Sam scowled. "Oh shut up. I still think you've got the brain of a lizard."

Freddie shook his head and chuckled.

Sam smiled, in spite of herself. "So…you okay now?"

Freddie stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, I'm okay."

Sam smiled in victory. "Good. Now that that's out of the way, I can do this." Sam proceeded to punch him and kept walking.

"Ow!" Freddie cried out, walking after her. "What did I do this time?"

Sam shrugged her shoulders. "Nothing. I just needed to punch something."

Carly glanced at her phone before looking at the computer screen then looking back at her phone.

* * *

"Hey, Carly! Check out this new app I got!" Spencer yelled as he came running out of his room. "I take a picture of my face and they send me a super long word that describes me from the picture!"

"Oh, that's nice." Carly mumbled as she looked at her phone again.

"Yeah it is!" he said, pumping a fist in the air. "Let's see…how am I feeling right-"

The door swung open and Freddie and Sam came in.

"Carly! Spencer! It's been way too long!" Sam greeted, throwing her jacket on the couch.

Spencer smirked, forgetting about his new app. He chuckled and crossed his arms. "Well look who it is…it's the spooners. How's the spooning going?"

Sam rolled her eyes and shoved Spencer, making him fall to the couch. "Just shut up." She growled.

"What happened with you two?" Carly asked with her hands on her hips.

"It was an accident." Freddie started to explain. "I didn't know Sam was in there taking a nap, so I went to take a nap there too and somewhere along the way we ended up…spooning."

Carly narrowed her eyes. "And you hung up on me?"

Sam unsuccessfully stifled a laugh. "You actually hung up on Carly?" she asked Freddie. "Maybe you really do have a backbone."

"Hobbledehoy? What? That doesn't even make sense!" Spencer yelled at his phone. His new app caught his attention once again.

"Sam!" Carly exclaimed, ignoring Spencer and unable to believe her friend.

"What? I'm just saying." Sam took a seat on one of the bar stools.

"So you just did a romantic, couplely thing by accident?"

Freddie went into their kitchen and grabbed a cup of water. "Yeah. You really don't have to worry about it, Carly. It really was an accident this time."

Carly looked at Freddie with a frown. "This time? Has this happened more than once? And not by accident?" she turned to look at Sam.

Sam glared at Freddie. "No it hasn't. Freddie's just being a dork and getting his words mixed up." Her mind started wondering what he meant by that last part of his sentence.

Freddie swallowed hard as he saw the murderous look on Sam's face. "Yeah, I didn't mean that we've spooned more than once. I was just talking about something else." He swallowed hard. He was just digging his grave deeper and deeper.

"What's the something else?" Carly asked, looking at the both of them.

Spencer laughed bitterly in the background. "Okay…fine… If I'm a hobbledehoy, then Freddie's one too!"

"It's nothing Carly!" Sam tried to cover up Freddie's mistake. She had no idea what he was talking about and honestly, she didn't want to know. But he was so going to get it once they went back home.

Carly grinned. "Oh my gosh, did you tell him! You told him didn't you! That's what the 'something else' is, isn't it?"

"Tell me what?" It was Freddie's turn to frown.

"Carly, I didn't tell him, because there's _nothing_ to tell him!" Sam said, enunciating the 'nothing'.

"Oh come on! You had to have told him! I mean, it would make more sense. You and him…spooning. On top of all the extra time you've been spending with him. And then there's-"

"Carly, I didn't tell him." Sam said in a low growl.

"You hear that Freddie! My phone thinks you're a hobbledehoy." Spencer said, holding his phone up proudly.

Carly blinked a few times. "Oh…you didn't tell him."

Freddie stood on the other side of the bar. "What didn't you tell me, Sam?"

Sam shot Carly a small glare before turning to look at Freddie with a scowl on her face. "A secret, Freddie. I didn't tell you a secret. Get over it."

"But what happened to the rule about no secrets between us?"

"Yeah, well when it comes to me and Carly keeping secrets from you, it doesn't count." Sam sneered

"Okay, that's just mean. Anserine so does not describe me." Spencer said with a deflated look on his face.

"That isn't even fair, Sam! How can you two keep a secret from me, but I can't keep a secret from either of you? Where's the logic in that? What's your secret?"

"Fine! You want to hear the big secret I've been keeping from you?" Sam yelled.

"Yeah, that'd be nice!" Freddie yelled right back.

Carly looked nervously between her two friends. "Uh…when did this turn into a yelling match?"

They ignored her.

"All right, Freddie. You asked for it. Brace yourself. The huge, stupid secret me and Carly have been keeping from you is that I have a crush on yyyoo…Fiblert!"

"Filbert?" Carly and Freddie said simultaneously.

Sam smiled smugly. "Yes. Filbert. I have a huge, ridiculous crush on Filbert."

"But…Filbert? Filbert Fieldler? The foreign exchange student from Germany?" Freddie exclaimed.

"Yes, Fredistein. I don't think there's another Filbert Fieldler in school. Or in Seattle for that matter." Sam said in all nonchalant.

"But you can't have a crush on _him_!"

"You can't tell me what to do. Besides, why can't I have a crush on him? It doesn't concern you, does it?"

"No…well, yeah...kind of...but…fine…if you have this 'crush' on Filbert, then why don't you ask him to the Winter Dance at school? Better yet, I dare you to ask him out."

Sam's eyes widened slightly. She glanced at Carly, trying to see if she would save her, but Carly was doing her best to stay uninvolved. Sam narrowed her eyes as she looked back at Freddie. "Fine, I accept your challenge, but I dare you to ask Sue Lavoria out to the Winter Dance."

"Carly, do you think anserine really does describe me?" Spencer asked sadly.

"Why would I ask Sue Lavoria out?"

"Because it's so obvious you have a crush on her."

"No I don't."

"Yeah you do. You spend all your time with her during chemistry class."

"Because she's my lab partner!"

"Are you going to ask her out or not?"

"Fine, Sam! I'll ask her out! I'm taking Sue Lavoria to the Winter Dance."

"Perfect! Then Filbert Fieldler is taking me to the Winter Dance!"

Freddie let out a frustrated yell. "There's no winning with you, is there, Puckett!"

"Not when it's you, Benson!"

Freddie stared Sam down before letting out another strangled cry and storming out of the apartment.

Sam growled as she made her way upstairs and headed to Carly's room, slamming the door behind her.

Carly looked from the stairs to the door, wondering what in the world happened.

"I mean, really? Do I have goose-like tendencies or something?" Spencer asked.

Carly stared at Spencer. "Did you actually miss everything that happened?"

Spencer looked around the empty room then back at Carly. "Hey, where'd Sam and Freddie go?"

Carly groaned loudly. "I'll be in the iCarly studio."

Spencer was still on the couch, wondering where everyone left. His phone dinged and he looked at the new notification. "Oh come on! I am not noisomeness!"


	16. The Dance

A/N: New chapter, hope you enjoy. Thanks everyone who keeps reviewing. You guys really are great. I don't have much else to say so read and review!

* * *

The Dance

The deed had been done. Freddie asked Sue out and Sam asked Filbert out. The whole school was talking about it, wondering what was going on between them.

Carly was taking notice of the talk and was trying to convince everyone that everything was normal. Sam and Freddie didn't take any notice of it though. They were more preoccupied with problems that were going on in their house. On a few occasions, Sam or Freddie caught Steven sleeping on the couch in the middle of the night. While they didn't hear Pam and Steven arguing, they hardly acknowledge each other whenever they were in the same room. What was a big house, felt stuffy and crowded. Freddie and Sam ended up spending most of their time at Carly's.

They didn't think much of it though. Pam and Steven were bound to get over whatever argument they had and everything would go back to whatever it was that they called normal.

A week before both the winter dance and winter break, Carly was finally able to drag Sam out to buy a dress for the dance.

Sam sighed loudly for probably the twentieth time in the ten minutes they had been there. Carly looked away from the dress she was looking at to glare at her. "Would you stop sighing? We've only been in the store for ten minutes. We are here to shop for your dress anyways."

Sam scrunched up her nose as she looked at all the dresses hanging on the racks. "Do I have to wear a dress? I hate dresses."

"Stop complaining. It's your own fault that you have to wear a dress. If you hadn't accepted Freddie's dare, then you wouldn't even have to go to the dance. Besides, you've worn hundreds of dresses for all those pageants you've been in."

"Uh, don't you remember me telling you my mom forced me to be in those pageants? I hate dresses and I hate dances."

Carly shook her head as she pulled out a dress and began scrutinizing every detail. "You were the one that accepted Freddie's stupid dare."

"At least he's going to be just as miserable as me. I actually feel a little bad for him. I mean, have you seen Sue Lavoria?"

Carly grimaced as she pulled up Sue's face. Lifeless hair, huge glasses, a nose that looked too big for her own face. Plus a horrible laugh. "Yeah, she's got one of those face you kind of have to get used to."

Sam chuckled. "I've said this before and I'm going to say it again. Sucks for Frederly."

"You don't have it too good either. Filbert isn't the cutest guy there either."

Sam made a face as she remembered how Filbert looked like. Over-sized glasses, blonde hair that was plastered to his forehead, making him look like a cow licked him, and the ridiculous clothes he wore. Button up shirts, dress pants, and pocket protectors. If you weren't counting Freddie, Filbert was the perfect example of a nerd. "Ugh, don't remind me."

"What about this dress?" Carly said as she held up a dark purple dress.

"Gross." Sam said, scrunching up her nose. She grabbed the dress and put it back on the rack.

"If you would've just told Freddie the truth, you wouldn't be here. Well, maybe you would, but you probably wouldn't be as miserable."

Sam scoffed. "Please. It wouldn't matter who I'd be going with, I'd still be miserable if I had to go to the dance."

"Maybe he wouldn't make you go to the dance…" Carly said with a light smirk.

Sam narrowed her eyes. "I have no idea who you're talking about."

"Oh come on, Sam! You've already told me, why can't you tell him?" Carly pleaded, grabbing Sam's arm.

"Dude, someone from school might be here!" Sam hissed. She looked around, hoping not to see anyone from Ridgeway.

"You actually care what people from school might think? Since when have you cared?"

"Since it might ruin my reputation."

Carly shook her head. "What's more important: your reputation or your happiness."

Sam rolled her eyes and started walking ahead of Carly, pretending to actually look at the dresses now. "Can't we just look at the dresses and not talk about this?"

Carly chuckled, "I thought you didn't even want to look through the dresses?"

Sam refused to look at Carly. A smile covered her face as she pulled out a red dress. "Look at this!" she held it against her body, taking a quick measurement of it.

Carly raised an eyebrow. "Wow, that looks great. You'd look pretty hot in it. Who are you trying to impress though? Your date, Filbert, or your crush?" Carly was about to say his name, but Sam cut her off.

"Don't you dare speak his name in this store." Sam said in a low growl.

"Fine. I just want to let you know that what you and him are doing is going to end up in disaster."

"We're not even doing anything!"

"Exactly."

"Carly, nothing can happen between us."

"Why not? You like him, I'm pretty sure he likes you too, so I ask why not?"

"Because our parents are dating."

Carly frowned, knowing Sam's excuse was a pretty good one. Before she could come up with something to say, Sam spoke up again.

"Carly, I think I just found the perfect dress." Sam said, still holding onto the red dress.

* * *

While Carly and Sam were out shopping for a dress, Spencer and Freddie were looking for a tuxedo and a tie to match. The tuxedo was the easy part, now they were left with the tie.

"Couldn't you have asked your dad to take you?" Spencer complained as he followed after Freddie in the store.

"He was working today and I didn't even want him to take me anyways." Freddie answered as he looked through the ties. "What about this one?" he asked as he held up a brown one.

"Nope. Reminds me of…Chuck." Spencer said in a dark tone.

Freddie groaned softly as he put the tie back and looked through other ties. He couldn't find his favorite color for some reason.

"So are you taking Sam to the dance?" Spencer asked with a smirk.

"No, why would I? She'd probably make sure I couldn't see straight for a week if I asked her."

"But you two would look awesome together!"

"No we wouldn't. Besides, she'd completely refuse me if I asked."

"Have you asked her yet?"

"No…"

"So then how do you know she'd say no?"

"Because she has a crush on this guy, Filbert. He's taking her to the dance."

Spencer began laughing. "Really? Huh. Filbert. Reminds me of a duck for some reason…Filbert the Duck. Oh, you could name a band something like that! Filbert and The Ducks!"

Freddie gave Spencer an odd look, wondering how his thought process worked. "You were there when she announced it, remember?"

Spencer frowned. "No…I mean, I remember you two coming in, but then something on my phone came up and then when I looked up, you and Sam were gone."

Freddie gave him an incredulous look. "Well that's what happened while you were paying attention to your phone. Sam's going to the dance with Filbert."

"Well that really sucks." Spencer said after a few moments. "So who are you taking to the dance?"

"My chemistry lab partner. Sue Lavoria."

"Is she hot?" Spencer asked with a grin.

Freddie grimaced lightly. "Well, I wouldn't call her hot…but she isn't ugly, she's just…"

"Average."

"Yeah. Well, except for her nose...it's kind of bigger than normal. And her laugh is pretty annoying."

"Do you like her?"

Freddie shook his head. "No, what happened was I dared Sam to ask Filbert to the dance and she said she'd only do it if I asked Sue to the dance."

"And you couldn't back down." Spencer said while shaking his head.

"No because then Sam would call me a mean name. Besides, she 'supposedly' has this crush on him so she shouldn't have a problem with it anyways."

"You don't actually believe her, do you?"

"Not for a second. She can't like him. It is completely unlike her to like someone like him."

"I think she likes someone…" Spencer said with a knowing grin.

Freddie ignored him as he grabbed a dark blue tie and held it against his neck. "What about this one?"

Spencer laid a hand on Freddie's shoulder. "Freddie, I think you have found the perfect tie."

* * *

Sam checked her face again in a pocket mirror Carly let her borrow.

"Are you feeling okay? This is the most I've seen you check your face for anything" Carly said as she looked away from the TV.

They were at Sam's house, waiting for Filbert to pick them up. Carly would've stayed at her place to wait for her date, but this was one of those few dances that she actually didn't feel like having a date to. She already had enough to worry about with Sam and Freddie without having to worry about her own date.

Sam gave Carly a small glare. "I'm feeling fine."

"Nervous?"

"No, why would I be?"

"Oh, I don't know…because you think there might be a totally hot guy at the dance."

"I'm not talking about this, Carly." Sam said in a forced, light tone.

"Fine, then what _do_ you want to talk about?"

"Let's talk about the fact that Carly Shay isn't taking a date to this dance." Sam said with a smirk.

"Or we can talk about the fact that Sam Puckett refused to come out of her room when Freddie said he was leaving, even though he was practically begging to see how she looked."  
Sam did a good job at making sure her cheeks didn't turn red. "I was busy getting ready and the nub was just going to waste my time."

"Right…" Carly didn't believe her for a minute. "Hey, where's your mom and Steven?"

Sam shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I think they might've left to go on a date or something."

"Are they not arguing anymore?"

Sam sighed. "I kind of don't know…a few nights ago I found Steven sleeping on the couch again."

Carly grimaced. "That's not good."

"Yeah, but I'm not getting involved."

"When exactly did they start arguing so much?"

Sam squinted her eyes as she started to think back to the problem that started it all. Was it the Thanksgiving incident? Or was it the closet incident?

The doorbell rang, interrupting her thoughts. "That's probably Filbert." She said as she got up to answer the door.

Carly followed after her and when the door was opened, they were both shocked. They were expecting to find Filbert wearing a bright blue tux that he stole from the seventies with his huge, over-sized glasses and his had still the same cow-lick style.

Instead, he was dressed in a regular, black tuxedo, his glasses were gone and you could actually see his green eyes. He had cut his hair short and had it spiked up nicely. It looked as if he had gone through a complete make over.

"Sam…you look lovely." Filbert said. He spoke perfect English, but if you listened hard enough, you could still hear traces of his German accent.

"Uh…thanks…you don't look too bad yourself." Sam said, still trying to accept the fact that Filbert actually looked…hot.

Carly didn't try to hide a giggle. "Hey Filbert."

Filbert turned to Carly. "You look nice too, Carly." Filbert said a bit flatly.

Sam tried her best not to laugh at the lame compliment. She grabbed his wrist and pulled him outside. "Come on, we're already late for the dance."

* * *

Freddie shivered against the cold winter air as he waited outside for the front door to open. He was at Sue's house, ready to pick her up and take her to the dance. He was feeling a little upset with Sam. Before he left, he said that he wanted to see how she looked…just because he wanted to make sure she didn't wear anything too provocative to the dance.

Carly, who had come to help Sam get ready, was about to open the door, but Sam screamed and said Freddie could not see her. Freddie kept asking and asking to see her, but she kept saying no. He eventually gave up and left to pick up his own date.

When the door finally opened, Freddie told himself not to expect much. It was Sue, nothing special about her. But one look at the person that opened the door and Freddie wondered if she shared any relation to Sue. "Uh…hi, I'm Freddie. Is Sue here?"

She laughed. "Yeah, she's right here." She said, brushing some hair back.

She didn't move and Freddie gave her a curious look. He faintly squinted his eyes and saw that it really was Sue, except she wasn't wearing her glasses and actually had her hair picked up in a messy bun instead of leaving it in its usual flat, lifeless style. She was wearing an orange dress that looked lovely on her. The only thing that seemed not to have changed was her nose. It didn't look as big without her glasses, but it was still larger than most.

Bottom line, Sue looked great, although Freddie could list several other girls he thought looked better, one particular name topping that list.

"Wow, I, um…didn't recognize you…sorry." Freddie said, feeling the tip of his ears reddening.

Sue laughed with a loud snort. Her laugh didn't seem to have changed either, much to Freddie's dismay. Sue didn't seem to notice though. "My mom helped me out. So you ready to go?"

"Let's go." Freddie said with a smile as he held out his arm for her to grab on.

* * *

Having been at the dance for about an hour already, Freddie had found out all the minor details about Sue, danced with her a few times, but he didn't feel like he was having a great time. Sure, Sue turned out to be…interesting (aside from her obnoxious laugh) and Freddie thought she was a really nice person, but Sam and Carly still hadn't shown up.

Freddie wondered if Sam had backed out at the very last minute and Carly was trying to convince her to still go. A smirk covered his face. While Sue was talking about some story about a chinchilla she had when she was eight, Freddie was thinking about how miserable Sam was going to be. There was just no way she really had a crush on Filbert. Freddie knew she was lying and just didn't want to tell Freddie who her real crush was.

Well, Freddie thought it was okay she didn't tell him at the moment because at least she had to go with Filbert.

"Hey, isn't that Carly with Filbert?"

Freddie turned around as soon as Sue spoke. Sure enough, Carly was coming in with Filbert walking right next to her. Freddie had to admit Carly looked very nice. She was wearing a simple green dress with black pumps, which was all she really needed. Her dress reached her knees and the neckline was something that Spencer probably approved of, considering it covered her entire neck.

Filbert, on the other hand, completely surprised Freddie. He looked like a different person. A person that Sam could possibly have a crush on…?

Carly saw them and waved, quickly walking over with Filbert following. "Hey, Freddie! Wow, don't you look like the sharp tech producer you are."

Freddie chuckled as he looked down at his own outfit. A simple tux with a dark blue vest and tie to match. "You look amazing, Carly Shay."

Carly grinned. "I know."

"So where's Sam?" Freddie asked with a smile and raised eyebrow. "Don't tell me she backed out."

"Why would she back out?" Filbert asked.

Carly rolled her eyes. "Don't pay attention to Freddie, Filbert. And Freddie, Sam _didn't_ back out. She just went to the restroom to relieve herself."

"And may I ask who this lovely woman is?" Filbert said as he looked directly at Sue.

Sue giggled, her obnoxious laugh avoided. "I'm Sue. Sue Lavoria."

Filbert grabbed her hand and kissed it. "May I have the pleasure to have this dance?"

Sue blushed and nodded her head, allowing Filbert to lead her to the dance floor.

Carly stared in slight shock as she watched Filbert and Sue dance awkwardly. "That was Sue?"

"Yup."

"But that didn't even look like Sue! Well, except for the nose. But she looked really…great."

"I know."

"What…but…it's Sue!"

"Her mom helped her get ready."

"Oh…" Carly said as she slowly nodded her head.

They watched Sue and Filbert dancing for a few more moments before Carly announced she was thirsty and was going to get a drink. She left Freddie alone with his thoughts.

Just as he was wondering where Sam was and what was taking her so long, she showed up.

"I knew you were probably going to bore Sue to death, but did you really scare her away already?"

Freddie rolled his eyes. "You know Sam…" he never finished his sentence. Once he turned to look at her, he was left speechless.

Sam was wearing a deep red dress that had small sleeves on her shoulders. The hemline stopped about an inch above her knees with little ruffles. A black rose made of fabric was pinned to her waist. Her black heels made her look taller, therefore her legs longer and her hair was down, except for a little piece that was held up with a small black clip in the shape of a flower. Her lips were the same color as her dress, making them seem even more appealing than usual…

"Fredhead? Hello? Did you space out again?"

Freddie blinked a few times as Sam pulled him out of his daze. "Sorry, I just…you…um," he cleared his throat uncomfortably and found his voice. "You look…beautiful."

If Freddie still hadn't been in awe of Sam's appearance, he would've noticed a faint blush on her cheeks. "You don't look too bad yourself."

Freddie felt a breathless smile come on his face. He tried to regain his composure, but Sam started talking before he had a chance.

"So where is Sue? I kept my end of the bargain, so you should've done the same."

Freddie gestured in the direction of the dance floor. "She and Filbert are actually dancing right now."

Sam raised her eyebrows as she caught sight of the new couple. "Wow. They make a pretty nice couple."

Freddie chuckled. "Yeah, but that kind of leaves us both without a date."

Sam smiled. "Can't say I'm disappointed."

"I thought you had this _huge_ crush on Filbert?"

Sam sighed. "Okay…so maybe I over-exaggerated."

"No, really?" Freddie said with sarcasm.

"Shut up." Sam said, punching his arm lightly. "I just didn't feel comfortable telling you the truth so I said the first name that came to me."

Freddie laughed. "And it was Filbert?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Fredhead."

Freddie calmed his laughing. "Right, so since you finally admitted you lied-"

"I just said I over-exaggerated."

"Will you tell me who you really have a crush on?" Freddie continued after Sam interrupted him.

If he looked closely, Freddie would've noticed both fear and curiosity pass through Sam's eyes before they went emotionless again. "Not in this lifetime."

Freddie shook his head, deciding not to press the conversation any further. His ears perked up as he heard a familiar song playing. He knew he had it on his PearPod, but he felt as if it had a bigger significance. It was the song 'Running Away'. "Since both our dates ditched us, care to join me for this dance?"

Sam raised a single eyebrow. "You expect me to accept that offer?"

Freddie grinned. "Come one. Nothing's holding you back, right?"

Sam sighed. "Fine, but only because there's no one else."

Freddie led Sam to the dance floor and they stood on the outer edge, swaying a little to the music and moving their feet in small circular motions. Freddie's hands rested in the middle of her back, but without him actually noticing, they were slowly moving down to rest on her hips. Sam's arms were laid carelessly on his shoulders as she looked into his eyes.

"You know I hate dances." Sam said, feeling the need for to say it.

Freddie smirked, "Doesn't surprise me."

Sam continued looking at him. Her heart beating faster with every moment she kept looking at those ridiculous, brown eyes. She couldn't stand it anymore, so she moved her head to let it rest on his shoulder as she looked away.

Freddie didn't seem to mind as he pulled her closer to him, enjoying the way she felt against him. Maybe he could get used to it. Maybe if something happened-

"You smell like meatballs."

Freddie chuckled. "I guess that's a compliment since it's coming from you."

A content smile found its way on Sam's face as she let herself become more comfortable in Freddie's hold. "You better believe it, Benson."

* * *

Carly sipped on her punch as she looked down the table full of food. There were only vegetables and she wasn't in the mood to eat any of them without whipped cream, which of course they didn't have. She faintly took notice of the change from an upbeat song to a slower song. Only the real couples would probably stay on the dance floor for the song.

She finished the rest of her punch and turned around to look for Freddie. He wasn't there anymore. Carly frowned as she searched the area for Freddie and even for Sam, since she should be out of the restroom by now. They were in the last place she checked though: the dance floor. Sam and Freddie were actually _dancing_.

It really wasn't Carly's fault that a huge grin covered her face as she saw her two best friends in a 'more than just friends' embrace while they danced.

"Hey Carly, have you tried the celery? I don't know what it is, but it's the best celery I've ever tasted! Where do you think they grew it?"

Carly turned around to look at Gibby. She gave him a weird look. "What?"

"The celery!" Gibby said as he held one up. "Where do you-" he paused as he looked where Carly had been looking "Holy Capellini! Is that Sam and Freddie?"

"Shh!" Carly exclaimed as she knocked his celery out of his hands. "Don't frighten them or they might run away like deer!" she hissed.

"But-!"

"Gibby!"

"It looks like Sam's choking him though!"

Carly quickly spun around to look at them again. Sam was still resting her head on Freddie's shoulder, her eyes actually closed, and Freddie was still holding her close. She turned back to look at Gibby. "What are you talking about?"

Gibby didn't answer her though as he stared at his empty hands. He said in a sad voice, "You knocked away my celery."


	17. The Storm

A/N: Thirty-one reviews on the last chapter! Haha, so happy you guys like my story. It'd be pretty awesome if I go some more reviews for this chapter…sorry it's a week late too. My parents have been using my laptop so I haven't really had time to work on it. But the new chapter is still here and I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

The Storm

It was Christmas Eve and Sam, Freddie, and Carly were on the couch in the Shay's living room watching a Christmas special. Carly was stuck in between her two friends, partly because that's where she ended up and partly because she wanted to avoid any conflict that might come up between them.

Sam and Freddie had actually been at the Shay house for two days in a row now and they refused to go home. Spencer finally convinced them that they should go home this evening so they could spend the rest of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with Pam and Steven.

"Don't you think you two should start heading home already?" Carly asked as she grabbed the bowl of popcorn from Freddie's lap.

"No, it's going to be boring over there." Sam said.

"Yeah, the only thing my dad and Pam are going to be doing is watching Christmas specials." Freddie added.

"Isn't that exactly what we're doing here?" Carly pointed out.

"Yeah, but you've got popcorn. They didn't." Sam said, taking the popcorn away from Carly and placing it in her own lap.

Carly shook her head. "What about your mom? I thought she would've come down to see you." She asked Freddie.

Freddie did his best to hide a grimace, but Sam still caught sight of it. "I don't think she's going to come down again after what happened last time. Besides, she called me and said she had made plans."

Sam smirked. "I heard it was because she wanted to spend Christmas with her new boyfriend."

Carly's eyes widened a little in glad surprise. "Wow, your mom has a boyfriend?" she asked with a small grin.

Freddie groaned. "Please don't remind me. It's already bad enough my dad is dating Sam's mom, but now my mom's dating someone too?" Freddie shivered. "It just isn't right for adults to date after thirty!"

"You guys are still here? I thought we agreed you were going to leave today." Spencer said as he came out of his room. It was one of those few times where he actually sounded like a serious, mature adult. "The snow outside is really starting to pile up."

Sam let out a loud groan. "I don't feel like going home."

Freddie rolled his eyes at Sam's response. "We'll leave in a few hours."

"And how are you getting home?" Spencer asked. He was really into his mature adult role.

"A taxi, duh." Sam responded.

"Okay…but there's a huge snowstorm heading our way."

"Sweet, a snow storm?" Carly repeated with a huge grin on her face.

Spencer shared her grin. "I know! It's so awesome! But you two should really get back home before you're stuck here."

"It wouldn't be such a bad thing if we got stuck here. We'd actually spend Christmas with people we like…or at least tolerate in my case." Sam said, picking a little bit at her nails.

"Trust us, Spencer. We'll be home before the snow fall gets worse." Freddie said, turning his attention back to the TV.

* * *

A few hours passed and the Christmas special they had been watching was finally over. Sam stretched her arms and legs with a loud moan. "That was the longest and most boring movie I've ever seen!"

"Galaxy Wars is longer. If you watch all the Galaxy Wars movies in a row, you'll end up taking all day. I've done that a few times. But Galaxy Wars isn't boring like that one." Freddie said, stretching a bit himself.

Carly and Sam just gave him weird looks. With a smirk, Sam said, "And that's why you _still_ don't have a girlfriend. In fact, I think that's why you'll _never_ get a girlfriend."

Freddie narrowed his eyes before tossing a pillow at Sam.

Sam laughed as she caught the pillow. "Aw, did I hurt poor Fweddie's feelings?" she taunted.

Cary sighed as she got up and headed to the kitchen. She was not going to get involved this time. As she grabbed some water from the faucet, she looked out the window. "Whoa! That's a lot of snow!"

Sam and Freddie dropped the small fight they were in the middle of and looked at Carly. "How much is a lot of snow?" Freddie asked warily.

"Well…come and look." Carly said, making room for them.

Sam and Freddie shared a quick look before getting up and standing next to Carly. Their eyes widened at the view.

Snow completely covered the streets. The cars parked on the side of the road were halfway covered with snow. No one was outside.

Freddie and Sam slowly turned to look at each other. "Maybe we should've called that cab earlier…" Sam said.

Carly scoffed. "You think?"

Freddie looked at Carly, "Well, I'm sure there's still a cab out there, picking people up and dropping them off. We've just got to call one and…"

While he was speaking the lights began flickering before all power went out.

The three looked around in slight shock and Spencer came running out of his room.

"Carly! Carly! Are you okay?" he yelled as he came into the kitchen with a flashlight in his hands. He pointed the light directly in Sam and Freddie's face and frowned. "What are you two doing here?"

Sam growled as she pushed the flashlight beam out of her eyes. "Do that again and I'll shut that thing off."

Spencer looked slightly afraid and took a step back, holding the flashlight close to his chest. "Oh…sorry," he mumbled. "But seriously, what are you two still doing here? I thought you said you were going to leave after an hour?"

Freddie looked at Sam, hoping that she would explain. She kept her eyes on the ground, knowing what Freddie wanted her to do. Freddie knew she wasn't going to do it. With a deep breath, he started his explanation. "It just…we kind of forgot…we were watching that movie and it just slipped out mind. We really would've gone home already, but…the movie was so interesting!"

Carly shook her head. She didn't know Freddie could lie.

"Fine…but you two had better call your parents and let them know you're all right. It's going to start getting cold, so Sam and Freddie, after you call your parents, bring some blankets down. Carly, come help me bring out this heater I made. We'll set it up in the kitchen and then we can sing Christmas Carols!"

Carly raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure it's safe?"

"The Christmas Carols?" Spencer asked with a frown.

"No! The heater!"

"Of course it is! I made it!" Spencer said.

"Yeah, Carly. It's about as safe as a roller-coaster missing all the bolts." Sam said with a sarcastic smile.

"Yeah, what Sam said!" Spencer said with a huge grin. He paused and thought over what she said. "Hey!" he exclaimed after he got it.

"We better call our parents before they start worrying." Freddie said as he grabbed Sam's wrist and pulled her upstairs.

Using Freddie's phone to light the way, Sam and Freddie went all the way up to the iCarly studio. The best reception was there and they decided it'd be best to call their parents from there.

"Put it on speaker." Sam ordered as she sat down on one of the beanbags while Freddie dialed Steven's cell number.

Freddie did as she said and pulled a beanbag next to Sam's and plopped down.

After a few rings, Steven picked up.

_"Freddie? Freddie, where in the world are you and Sam! Don't you see the snow storm outside?"_ Steven yelled.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Are you serious, Steven? There's a snowstorm? Wow, we've been locked in this basement and had no idea there was a snowstorm!"

_"Where are you two? Both of us are really worried." _Steven said, ignoring Sam's sarcastic comment.

Freddie answered before Sam could come up with a rude retort. "We're fine. We're still at Carly's house. The power went out and we're kind of stuck here, but we're fine."

_"Are you sure? I could pull some strings and have someone in a snowplow pick you up._"

Sam shook her head silently, hoping Freddie would see her.

"How else are we supposed to get home?" Freddie whispered, covering the speaker of the phone.

"Maybe I don't want to go home!" Sam hissed. "We're already stuck at Carly's. Let's just stay here until the storm dies down. Besides, it'd be a whole lot more fun here. Don't try and argue 'cause you know it's true."

Freddie sighed, knowing Sam was right. "Uh, Dad…we're okay with staying here. It's not a big deal, you know?"

_"Are you talking with Sam? Give me that phone! I need to talk to her."_

Sam grimaced as she heard her mom on the phone. "What do you need Mom?"

_"For you to come home. It's Christmas, you need to spend time with family. Steven already let you two hang out at Carly's now it's time to come home."_

"Uh, if you haven't noticed, there's a huge snow storm outside…" Freddie said. "And we're kind of stuck in here."

_"Then let Steven get you in a snow plow! Don't you know he has money to do that!"_

"Mom, we're not going home because…" Sam trailed off in her sentence as Freddie's phone showed the Pear logo and shut off.

"Oh no…please don't tell me that just happened." Freddie mumbled as he grabbed his phone and began hitting it against his palm.

"Did your phone just die?"

Freddie looked up at Sam. "Yeah…don't you have your phone? We have to call them back. They're going to think we hung up on them."

Sam rolled her eyes. "They're not going to think that and if they do, oh darn."

"Whatever, but do you have your phone or not?"

"Yeah, it's downstairs." Sam said as she stood up. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. "Hurry up and get up, Fredbag. It's starting to get cold in here."

"Wait, Spencer said to start gathering blankets. I think there's some in the storage closet."

"Freddie, there's no blankets back there. I go back there more than you do and I never see any blankets."

"But more than half the time you go back there, you're eating something and not paying attention to anything that's in there." Freddie pointed out.

Sam narrowed her eyes, knowing Freddie was right. "Okay, but how are we going to see anything if we don't even have a flashlight?"

Freddie smiled smugly as he walked towards his cart and grabbed one that was on the bottom shelf. "You were saying?" he said as he flicked it on and shined the light in Sam's face.

Sam pushed the flashlight out of her face and punched Freddie. "Come on, let's just go get the stupid blankets."

* * *

"Okay now go left…I said left!" Spencer yelled as he and Carly moved the heater into the living area.

"I am moving it left!" Carly yelled back.

"No! You're moving it…not left!"

"Fine, I'll move it the other way!"

"Thank you!"

They set it down on top of the coffee table.

"Why couldn't you get Freddie to help you with this? That thing has to weigh a ton." Carly said as she stretched her limbs.

"Because I wanted my sister's help." Spencer said. He started to turn on the heater, turning different switches on and pushing several buttons. "Go close every door in the apartment and you're going to have to lock the iCarly studio."

"Why?" Carly asked as she slipped on a sweater. It really was starting to get cold.

"Because that way, the heat won't go everywhere and it'll stay mostly in here. Now hurry!"

"But what about Freddie and Sam?" she asked as she grabbed a flashlight and switched it on.

"I think they're in your room. Don't worry about it, just go close the doors and lock all the rooms on the third floor…which is just the iCarly studio."

"Fine, whatever you say." Carly said a bit grumpily. She started out on the first floor, which was just Spencer's room and the main bathroom, then headed to the second floor, which had her room, a spare bedroom, and another bathroom. Once she finally reached the third floor, she shined her light in the studio and didn't see anyone. Carly closed the door, grabbed the key and locked it.

Carly held the key in her hands and she walked back down to the first floor. Spencer was in the kitchen by the sink. It looked like he was cutting a papaya. "Okay, I did what you said. Here's the key."

Spencer set down the papaya on a plate. "Sweet, I'll just-" as he grabbed the key, it slipped out of his hands because of the papaya juice and slid down the drain.

Carly's eyes bulged. "Spencer! You just dropped the key!"

"I'm sorry!" he exclaimed as he tried to stick his hand down the drain.

Carly sighed. "It's fine. Just let me know where the extra key is."

Spencer looked away. "Extra key?"

"Spencer…" Carly started, "Please tell me you know where the extra key is."

Spencer chuckled. "Oh, pssh, of course I know where it is!"

"Then where it is?"

"…In a clay sculpture…"

"What?" Carly yelled.

"I was making a clay sculpture for Socko's brother, Clayton, and while I was making it, I was kind of using the extra key as a mold and I forgot to take it out of the sculpture and it dried and Socko took it over to Clayton's place…which is in Montana…"

"I can't believe you Spencer!" Carly yelled as she slapped his arm.

"I'm sorry! We'll just call out a locksmith once this storm dies down and everything will be fine."

Carly sighed as she made her way to the living room. The heater was actually working and was heating up the apartment nicely. "All right…"

Spencer sat next to her. "See, nothing to worry about." He grabbed a lager flashlight and set it next to the heater, letting it light up the room a little.

"So when are we going to start singing the Christmas carols?" Carly asked with a slight grin.

"Once Freddie and Sam come down and join us!" Spencer proclaimed.

* * *

"You're such an idiot, Freddie! I told you there were no blankets back there." Sam said as they finally came out of the closet.

They had spent at least fifteen minutes in there looking for the blankets that weren't there.

"Well I'm sorry, Puckett, but I really thought there was blankets back there!" Freddie snapped back.

"Let's just get some other blankets and go downstairs already. It's cold in here and my hands are starting to feel numb." Sam muttered as she rubbed her arms.

Freddie shook his head at Sam's exaggeration. It was cold, but it wasn't cold for your fingers to start going numb. He placed his hand on the knob since Sam 'couldn't turn the knob because her hands were numb'. Freddie frowned when the knob didn't want to turn.

"What's taking you so long, Benson? Open the door already." Sam said testily.

"I'm trying. The knob won't turn." Freddie grunted as he twisted it harder. It still refused to turn.

Sam pushed Freddie out of the way. "Let me do it." She grabbed the knob and began twisting and turning and yanking it. Sam let go of the knob and took a few steps back staring at the knob that refused to turn.

"All right…so we're locked in the iCarly studio, it's getting colder by the minute, we have no blankets or phone, I'm the only one with a sweater, and there's no light…great. This is just how I wanted to spend Christmas." Freddie complained.

"Would you shut up already, Fredward?" Sam yelled as she turned to look at him. "We'll get out of this. I'll just pick the lock-"

"Carly replaced the knobs." Freddie quickly threw in. He took a few steps away from Sam, knowing she was going to flip out once he told her the rest of their situation.

"So?"

"She replaced them with pick-lock proof knobs." Freddie said with a small wince.

Sam's jaw opened a little. She slowly walked towards the door and began banging on the glass. "Carly! Carly open the door! Don't leave me in here with the nub!"

"Sam, calm down!" Freddie exclaimed as he grabbed Sam and pulled her back. "They aren't going to hear!"

"Yes they will! One of those Shay's has to hear us!" Sam yelled.

"Listen to me, Sam!" Freddie yelled as he grabbed her face and made her look at him. "They aren't going to hear us. The only way they'd hear us if they were on the same floor. That glass is pretty thick and practically sound proof. We're just going to have to wait until they finally realize we're missing."

Sam took several deep breaths as she regained her composure. "All right…yeah, you're right…" she mumbled softly. She moved away from him and sat on one of the beanbags. Rubbing her arms, she turned to look at Freddie. "How cold do you think it's going to get?"

Sitting on the beanbag next to her, Freddie said, "Pretty cold. Especially if the door is closed and Spencer has the heater going downstairs."

Sam groaned. "Maybe we should've just stayed home."

Freddie slipped off his sweater and handed it to Sam. "Here you can use my sweater."

"I'll ignore the fact that it probably has geek germs all over it." Sam said with a grin. She put it on and smiled at feeling a little warmer. She closed her eyes and let herself enjoy the small warmth.

"Sam?"

"What, Benson?" Sam answered with a scowl.

"I'm going to ask you something…but you have to swear you won't freak out. It'll be for both our benefit if you agree."

"What is it?"

"First you have to agree."

"Fine, I agree. Now what is it?"

"…can you sit on my lap?"

"What? Are you crazy! Of course I won't! What the heck is the matter with you, Benson!"

"I don't mean that I want you to sit on my lap, even though I kind of do, but that's only because if you do, I'll be warm too since body heat is the best kind of heat." Freddie quickly explained.

Sam narrowed her eyes. "Just to stay warm."

Freddie nodded his head.

"And we tell _no one_ about it."

"We'll just add it to the list of things that never happened." He said with a cautious grin.

Sam let out heavy breath of air before crawling onto Freddie's lap. She sat sideways and refused to look at him. Even when she felt his arms bring her closer to him, she still didn't look at him.

"Surprised you actually have a bony butt."

Sam finally looked at Freddie with raised eyebrows. "What did you just say?"

"I, uh…I'm just…kind of surprised you've got a…bony butt…'cause I mean…well…you know…" Freddie looked anywhere but Sam. He was glad it was dark so she could see him blushing.

"No, Freddie. I don't know. Why don't you explain it to me." Sam said in a overly-sweet tone.

Freddie groaned inwardly. He was so going to get beaten for what he was about to say. "You've got a big butt." He said as quickly as he could.

"I didn't hear you, Freddie. You're going to have to speak up." Sam said in that sweet tone again.

Freddie shut his eyes tightly, knowing Sam wasn't going to leave him alone. "I said you have a big butt. I didn't expect you to have a bony butt too."

Sam smirked. "So now you've been checking out my butt?"

"Sam…" Freddie groaned.

Sam laughed. "Fine. I'll leave it alone since it's Christmas Eve and we're stuck here until Carly comes up." She leaned against Freddie and let her head rest on his chest. She could the steady beat of his heart. It was peaceful listening to it. She could fall asleep to it.

Freddie held Sam tighter, already feeling much warmer than before. She had been quiet for a while, so when he looked down and saw her eyes closed, he figured she was asleep. "Merry Christmas, Sam." He said softly.

His next movement shocked himself though. He bent his head down and gave Sam a small kiss on the top of her head. After he did it, Freddie refused to dwell on it. He would only manage to convince himself that he did not do it out of friendship and instead it was out of the weird feelings he had towards her.


	18. The Punishment

A/N: Soo…new chapter…here it is…oh please don't despise me for not posting sooner! I really tried, but some things got in the way...family, school, life...you know how it is. But I'll do my best to get the next chapter and the chapter after that and the rest of the chapters up really soon. I just want to say a huge thank you to all of you who have reviewed this _entire_ story and who keep reading. You guys make me feel like I can actually write pretty well, despite having no training at all. Anyways, I won't keep you longer from reading the new chapter. But since it has been a while, I put up a little recap of all the important things (or all the things that will be important *laughs mischievously*). It'd be super cool if you guys left reviews for me as well!

* * *

_Previously on Parent's Really Shouldn't Date…_

_Freddie and Sam moved in together, Sam with her mom and Freddie with her dad, because their parents were dating. A pregnancy scare happened, arguments arose, a kiss was shared between Freddie and Sam (even though they say it never happened), and Marissa Benson came to announce to the world that Steven, Freddie's dad, cheated on her while they were married. Sam and Freddie have been growing closer and Sam even confessed that her dad lives in Ireland (but Freddie didn't believe her for a second). Freddie and Sam visited the Shay's Christmas Eve but ended up stuck in the iCarly studio with no electricity, heat, or a way out. And now, the next installment of Parent's Really Shouldn't Date._

* * *

The Punishment

"Are you sure you guys don't want to come in? Don't you want to say hi to my mom?" Sam asked Carly from her spot in the backseat.

Carly turned around to look at her. "When have I ever wanted to say hi to your mom? You know how much she creeps me out."

Sam sighed. "That's true…"

"Then what if you say hi to my dad? He's only seen you two like once or twice." Freddie pointed out, leaning forward in his seat.

Spencer chuckled. "Oh yeah, Freddie. We'll say hi to your dad. Just not right now."

Freddie groaned and exchanged a glance with Sam. They knew what was going to happen once they walked inside the house. First Steven was going to yell at them for hanging up. Once it was made clear that they didn't hang up on purpose, Pam was going to yell at them for missing Christmas with them and that she didn't care if they were snowed in with no electricity and stuck in the iCarly studio, they still should've made it. Steven would probably then yell at Pam for being unfair with them and that it wasn't their fault and Pam would yell back and most likely throw in something about how stupid his Christmas gift was and then a whole new argument would be started and Sam and Freddie would have to resort to sneaking off to their own rooms while their parents argued.

"Just remember, Shay, next time your granddad wants to take you away to Yakima, I am not going to stop him." Sam said with a scowl as she slipped on her gloves and hat.

Carly smiled. "You could do that, but then I'd tell everyone I know you were snuggling with Freddie."

"We were only keeping warm!" Sam and Freddie yelled simultaneously. They looked at each other then looked away quickly, both fighting off a blush.

Spencer sniggered loudly. He had been the one to finally discover them and it was honestly the funniest sight he had ever seen. He was just sad that he had accidentally woken them up before he could take a picture. Spencer had actually been tempted to leave them locked up in the room because it looked as if Sam was going to attack him for laughing at them.

Freddie cleared his throat and tried to gather his dignity. "Besides, Carly, you wouldn't even tell anyone about that. You wouldn't dare."

Sam scoffed. "If that was you trying to be threatening, Freddie, then it was the worst threatening voice I've ever heard. You sounded like a little kid asking _politely_ for his Popsicle back."

"I did not sound like that!" Freddie argued.

"Okay, before you two start arguing, I'd just like to ask what you're going to do for New Year's Eve?" Spencer asked, "You guys want to come over? We're going to have a party!"

"I don't know if we should…" Freddie said. "We did accidentally spend Christmas with you guys when we were supposed to be home."

"Don't worry about it, Freddie. Of course we can go over to their place for New Year's Eve. Our parents aren't going to mind." Sam said.

Freddie gave her an incredulous look, as did Spencer and Carly.

"What?" Sam said with a shrug. "It's not like they have any huge plans. They're probably just going to open a bottle of champagne, have a little bit, then go upstairs and-"

"Please don't go there, Sam." Freddie groaned as he shut his mind to the incoming visual images.

"Gross, Freddie!" Sam exclaimed. "I wasn't even going to say that!" she said as she threw a punch to his arm.

Spencer shook his head. "All right, I think you guys have stalled long enough. I think you better get off already."

"Ugh, fine. We're leaving." Sam groaned. "See you in two days for New Year's Eve, Shay's." Sam said as she climbed out of the car.

Freddie rolled his eyes. "We're probably not going to show up, Sam." He called after her as he came out of the car as well.

They heard Spencer drive away, a combination of snow and gravel crunching under the tires. "I don't know what you're dad might say, but my mom will let us go." Sam sounded pretty sure of herself.

They walked at an easy pace until they came to the front door where they stopped completely and stared at it.

"So…are you going to open the door?" Freddie asked.

Sam scoffed. "I thought your mom was huge on manners. Don't the guys open the door for the ladies?"

"I don't see-"

Sam punched Freddie's arm before he could finish that statement. "Look, this is ridiculous. Why are we scared to open the door? They aren't going to do anything to us and I'm freezing my butt off out here. Let's just go inside."

Freddie chewed the inside of his cheek. "So does that mean you're going to open the door?"

Sam rolled her eyes. She finally reached out and opened the door. The house sounded quiet, which wasn't anything unusual, but this was a scary quiet. They slowly walked in and closed the door behind them.

"Oh my gosh, it's so warm in here!" Sam whispered under her breath as she slipped off her coat.

Freddie chuckled. "I know. It's the warmest I've felt since Christmas Eve."

"You wouldn't have to have been so cold if you two would've just stayed here in the first place."

Freddie and Sam turned around and saw both Pam and Steven standing in the foyer with them. Steven was the one that had spoken. Pam remained silent.

"Yeah, well…we kind of…it's because…" Freddie tried to come up with an excuse before Sam could blurt out something that would get them both in trouble.

"It was going to be boring here. Might as well go somewhere with people we like and be bored there." Sam said.

Freddie groaned, failing at his mission.

"Grounded. One month. You aren't going to leave this house except for school." Pam growled.

"What?" Sam exclaimed. "You can't do that! How was it our fault that we got stuck there with no power! Besides it was only five days!"

Pam laughed "Yeah Sam, five days, which included Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! I'm not going to talk with you about this anymore. Grounded for a month. And I swear, if you even think about sneaking out or screwing up again…you don't even want to know what I'm going to do." Pam said in an oddly calm voice.

Freddie and Steven watched as the two Puckett's stared each other down. Pam finally looked away and walked upstairs without another word.

Sam turned to Steven and Freddie knew what was going to happen next. "If I'm grounded, then Benson here has to be grounded too!"

Steven held up his hands. "Fine, Freddie you're grounded too. But just one week."

Freddie grimaced, knowing what was about to happen. Sam was about to blow up.

"What? How is that fair? I got one month and he only gets off with one week?"

Yup, there was the explosion.

"It was your mom's decision. You're her daughter and Freddie isn't her son and I'm not your dad." Steven said as calmly as he could. It was hard to stay calm when faced with a fuming Puckett.

Sam narrowed her eyes. "You know what? I'm glad you're not my dad! I'd hate to have you as my dad. No wonder the dork is so…nubby! He's got you as a father! This is all your fault." She hissed. "I know you did something that you weren't supposed to do and now my mom is upset about it."

Steven visibly gulped. It didn't pass Freddie and Sam that he was suddenly paler. "What do you mean?" he asked after a moment's hesitation.

Sam furrowed her brows with rising curiosity. Before she could question him though, Freddie grabbed her wrist and started pulling her. "Okay, so we're both grounded. We'll be sure to…not do anything…we're not supposed to." Freddie said awkwardly as he led Sam down the hallway.

Freddie pulled Sam into a random room that only had two couches and a small table. "What was that?" he hissed as soon as the door was closed.

"You know exactly what that was about!" Sam yelled as she punched his arm.

"First off: ouch! That hurt! How am I the one that gets punched? I didn't even do anything! Secondly: I have no idea what you're talking about. How is your mom being upset my dad's fault?"

"It just is! He probably started an argument while we were gone." Sam groaned. "I told you we shouldn't have left them alone. I knew they were going to get into another argument." She plopped down on one of the couches and spread her limbs over it.

Freddie rolled his eyes, pushing Sam's legs off the couch so he could sit down. "It was your idea to go to Carly's. I was the one that was trying to tell you it might be a bad idea."

Sam ignored Freddie and lifted her feet back up and rested them on Freddie's lap. He didn't show any signs of removing them from his lap.

It was quiet for a few moments before Sam broke it with a heavy sigh. "It's just…" she moved around on the couch to where she was sitting up but her feet still on Freddie's lap. "You remember what your mom said Thanksgiving…about Steven."

Freddie didn't try hiding his grimace. "How could I forget?"

"Well…I don't know…no offense to you, Fredhead, but I just don't trust that guy. What if he's doing the same thing to my mom?"

Freddie bit his lip in thought. There was always that possibility…

"And about what I said earlier…I don't mean that you turned out completely messed up. You turned out pretty good, considering the parents you got stuck with."

Freddie raised an eyebrow. "Was that an apology from Sam Puckett?"

Sam narrowed her eyes and was about to say some sarcastic remark, but her phone started ringing. She jumped off the couch to pick it up and in the process, kicked Freddie in the crotch. She smirked as he let out a loud groan. "Sam Puckett apologizes on rare occasions, but that wasn't one of those rare times." Sam answered her phone and walked out of the room, leaving Freddie with his pain.

* * *

Sam carefully balanced the laptop in one hand and a huge bag full of her presents in another as she walked into one of the empty rooms in the house. She closed the door and locked it behind her. She set the things on the floor, sitting on the floor as well.

_"I didn't know you even had a webcam on your laptop."_ Carly said, her voice coming from the computer. The two girls were chatting over webcam.

"I don't." Sam answered simply as she started digging through the bag, planning to show Carly her favorite presents.

Carly frowned, _"So then how are we video chatting?_"

Sam smirked. "Borrowed Freddie's computer."

"_Did you even ask for permission?_"

Sam pulled out a can of beef jerky and started eating it. It was a gift from one of her cousins. "No…"

_"Sam, we talked about this._" Carly sighed. _"It's not nice to take friends belongings without asking."_

Sam rolled her eyes. "The nub isn't my friend."

Carly laughed. _"Right, Sam. Whatever you say…"_

"Shut up, Carly." Sam growled.

_"All right, all right. I'm just saying."_ Carly said as she giggled away. _"But being serious…this has got to be the longest you've ever been grounded. Are you sure your mom won't change her mind and…I don't know, cut your punishment short?_"

"Nope, she seemed pretty serious this time. I haven't seen her that upset since…well, since my dad left." Sam said as she continued digging through her bag of Christmas presents. "Check this one out," she said as she pulled out a red and black polka dot bikini. It was the kind that only a string tied behind the neck and back held up the top and the bottom piece was pretty much two pieces of cloth held together by a thick string. She held it up for Carly to see. "Melanie gave it to me."

_"Where did she find a bikini in the middle of winter?"_

Sam shrugged her shoulders. "Don't know, don't care. It's actually really cute. I'm surprised Melanie picked this out."

_"Did you get her anything?_"

"Yeah, I gave her five dollar bill. I was pretty generous this year."

Carly merely sighed and shook her head. _"Back to the conversation…do you still think you and Freddie can come over tomorrow for our New Year's Eve party?"_

Sam grimaced. "I don't think so. I'm actually kind of scared to ask her. I don't think Freddie can go either." Sam stood up with the bikini in hand. "I'm turning off the camera 'cause I want to try this on." She said with a smile.

As soon as the camera was off, Sam stood up behind the laptop and started changing into the bikini.

_"So how are we going to do iCarly? Would your mom still let you come over?_"

Sam scoffed. "I doubt it. I can always sneak out, though. I mean, she isn't even going to notice I'm gone."

_"What if you just asked her?"_

Sam laughed. "This is my mom we're talking about. Once she's made up her mind, she doesn't change it."

"_I know but it's worth a shot. Is she there?"_

"No. She went out, probably to go visit her brother or something. Steven's gone too. Said there was an emergency at the hospital." Sam looked down at herself in the bikini. She smiled, pleased that she looked pretty hot in it. She headed towards the computer to turn the camera back on and show Carly, but the pounding on the door stopped her in her tracks.

"Sam! Sam, open this door!" Freddie yelled from the other side of the door.

"No, Fredddork!" Sam yelled back.

_"Is that Freddie? Sam, turn the camera back on!_" Carly exclaimed.

Sam ignored Carly as she continued watching the door with amusement.

"I know you have my laptop! Give it back, Sam!" Freddie yelled louder.

"Why should I?"

"Because it's _mine_!"

"Geez, Freddie. When did you become so selfish?" Sam asked with a smirk. She knew Freddie knew she was smirking too. This only made her smirk even more.

"Come on, Sam! I never take any of your things! Just give it back!"

"No!"

Sam could hear Freddie grumbling, but there was no more yelling and he stopped trying to open the door. She shrugged her shoulders, assuming Freddie had given up. She sat back down and turned the camera on. "Sorry about that Carly. Anyways, what do you think of…?"

Sam trailed off when she heard a lock clicking. She turned her head and saw the knob turning slowly. "I've got to go, Carly." Sam said. She shut the lid of the laptop before Carly could make any protests.

Sam stood up and leaned all her weight against the door. She felt the door beginning to budge just a little before it went back.

"Sam! Let me in!" Freddie exclaimed as he shoved on the door harder.

"No, Freddie! You ruined a good conversation I was having with Carly and now she still hasn't seen my bikini!"

"You think I care? I just want my laptop back! You can show Carly you're stupid bikini later!"

Sam grinned. "If you saw this bikini, you wouldn't think it was so stupid."

Freddie laughed. "Yeah right. It's probably just guy shorts and a-"

Sam swung open the door and stood in front of him, letting him see her in her bikini. A victorious grin covered her face when she saw his expression. Total shock.

His mouth had dropped open and his eyes were trailing slowly over her body, practically stopping when he came to her chest area. Freddie visibly gulped as he struggled to meet her face.

"Still think it's stupid?"

Freddie tried to say anything, but his tongue refused to comply. He forced his eyes to look away and instead, he saw his laptop lying on the floor. "That's my laptop." He growled as he stormed past her.

Sam quickly moved and stood in front of him again. She leaned in close to him. "You are not going to get that laptop." She said in breathy voice.

All the blood rushed to Freddie's face as he once again looked down at her chest. She did her best to hide her smile as she had the desired effect on Freddie.

Freddie promptly shut his eyes and took a few deep breaths. "Sam, I'm getting my laptop and then I'm leaving. Why are you even wearing a bikini in the first place? It's the middle of winter!"

Sam laughed. "And here I was, thinking you were enjoying seeing me in my _revealing_ bikini."

Freddie groaned and pushed past Sam again. "I'm getting my laptop!"

Sam roughly grabbed his arm, starting to get frustrated with Freddie's persistence. "Dude, I'm using your laptop. Just let me finish the conversation with Carly."

Freddie yanked his arm away, now visibly upset. Sam's bikini was no longer having any effect on him. "No. Stop taking my things without asking." He growled.

Sam narrowed her eyes and grabbed his arm once again, this time giving him a hard push. "Just let me use it! Mine doesn't have one!"

"Then maybe you should've asked before you took it!" Freddie yelled back, shoving her back.

Sam stared at him, unable to believe he just shoved her. Freddie was staring at her through narrowed eyes before they widened slightly. He seemed to have barely realized what he did. "Sam…" Freddie said as he took a cautious step back.

"No one shoves me. Especially nubby geeks like you." Sam growled, taking a step forward.

Freddie took another one back. "You know…you can use the laptop if you want…"

Sam let out a battle cry and gave Freddie a hard push, knocking him to the ground. Before he fell, though, Freddie reached out and grabbed Sam's arm, pulling her down with him.

"Let go of me!" Sam yelled as they struggled on the ground.

"Not until you calm down!" Freddie yelled back. He had successfully pinned her wrists to the floor and was straddling her hips.

"Get off of me." Sam growled. She tried squirming out of his grip, but he was much stronger than she remembered. "What have you been doing? Taking steroids?" she grunted.

Freddie grinned. "Guess you forgot my dad has a gym in this house. I've been there…working on my guns."

Sam scoffed and rolled her eyes. "So are you going to let me go?" she asked as she squirmed a little bit more.

"Not until I know you're calm and you're going to let me grab my laptop."

Sam smirked. "And if I say no?"

"I don't think you will."

Sam hadn't noticed Freddie had removed one of his hands from her wrists. "What makes you say that?"

Freddie smiled and placed his free hand on Sam's waist, feeling her bare skin. He thought it might feel dry, since it was winter, but it didn't. It felt soft and smooth, like the way water would feel when you gently skim your hand over the surface.

Sam shivered for the first time since she had put on her bikini. His hand felt so warm and it actually seemed massive. But that was just her mind blowing things out of proportion…probably. "Wha…what are you doing?" she whispered.

Freddie slowly rubbed small circles on her skin with his thumb, bringing his hand to rest just above her belly button. He found he couldn't quite answer her question, though, because he didn't know the answer either. It just felt so…wonderful to feel Sam so close to him. Kind of like in the closet, but this time was so much better. Maybe because they still hadn't decided that the even never occurred.

Sam swallowed hard, trying to get her brain to function. She was supposed to push him off and then give him a good punch for pinning her down like that. But she felt frozen under him. She couldn't bring herself to push him away when he was so close to her.

Freddie stared at Sam's face in intense concentration as he moved his hand across her skin until he reached her thigh. He gave it a tender squeeze and she let out a shuddery breath.

"Sam…" Freddie whispered softly. "I-"

"What is going on here?"

Freddie jumped off of Sam and stood at least five feet away from her. Sam stood up right after him and they were both staring at Pam.

"Um…" Freddie looked at the floor, hoping that Sam would say something that would get them out of this. He shook his head, trying to get rid of those words he was about to say to Sam.

"Sam, answer my question." Pam growled.

"Nothing was going on, Mom." Sam said quickly. Much too quickly, though.

Freddie was expecting to be yelled at, things to start flying, but it never came. Pam just let out an exasperated breath and continued staring them both down.

She finally raised her hands in what looked like defeat. "I can't take this anymore, Sam. I'm tired of the way you've been behaving."

"But we didn't-!"

"I'm not going to listen to any of your excuses. You're leaving. I'm going to call your dad and you're going to live with him."

Sam's jaw dropped and she was speechless. Freddie watched Pam leave and Sam stay in the same position. He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling somehow responsible for the entire thing. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well…you're probably not going far anyway. I mean, how far can your dad be? I bet he isn't even as far away as my mom."

Sam spun to stare Freddie down. "You don't get it do you?" she hissed.

Freddie gulped, afraid to ask her to clarify.

"I'm leaving, Freddie. I'm leaving and this is probably the last time you're going to see me." Sam said. "I can't believe I ever thought you…you know what? It doesn't even matter anymore."

"Wait, Sam." Freddie grabbed her wrist before she could walk away.

With her free hand, Sam gave Freddie's cheek a hard slap. She pulled her arm back, grabbed her clothes and walked out of the room.

Freddie rubbed his sore cheek and stared at the spot she had just vacated. Sam was just being dramatic whens he said it was the last time he'd see her. Right?

* * *

Carly came downstairs into the living room where Spencer was working on a sculpture for the New Year's Eve Party.

"Hey kiddo, I thought you were going to be talking with Sam for a while." Spencer said, not looking away from his sculpture.

Carly tilted her head as she stared at the sculpture. It looked like a cross between a baby and a top hat. "I thought so too, but then she hung up on me."

Spencer chuckled. "Were you being boring."

"No!" Carly immediately defended herself. "It's just Freddie started pounding on the door, demanding Sam give him his computer back."

Spencer frowned, finally looking at Carly. "You know, I still can't figure out how those two are still alive. I mean, they're living with each other! Do you know how many times one of them could kill the other?"

Carly furrowed her brows. "I kind of don't like to think about that..."

Spencer's phone started ringing. "Oh, Carly, could you get that? Put it on speakerphone, please."

"Where is it?"

"Under the sink."

Carly didn't even bother asking why it was there. She grabbed the phone from where Spencer said it woulbd be and answered it, putting it on speaker as well.

"Yellow!" Spencer exclaimed.

_"Spencer, this is Pam."_

Spencer frowned. "Right, Sam's mom. Everything all right?"

Pam let out a heavy sigh. _"Not exactly. I need you to come over here right now and explain some things to me. Go ahead and bring Carly with you."_

"Uh...okay."

"_Good. Be here in thirty minutes."_Pam said before she hung up.

Spencer and Carly looked at each other. "What do you think they did?"

Carly groaned as she walked to the coat rack and put on her jacket. "I don't even want to know."


	19. The Decision

A/N: An update! And I posted it so soon and it's longer than usual…don't you people love me for that haha, anyways, thanks everyone for the reviews and I hope you like this chapter enough to review it. I'll do my best to post the next chapter really soon. And once you get to the end of this chapter, well…I just hope you don't hate me…anyways, read this chapter, enjoy it, and review it!

* * *

The Decision

"Spencer, I'm scared." Carly whispered as they approached the huge front door.

Spencer chuckled nervously. "We have nothing to be afraid of. Maybe Pam just wanted to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year."

Carly grimaced, knowing there was no way Pam would've called them because of that. Besides, she could've just said that over the phone.

Spencer knocked on the door before opening it. "Hello?" he called out tentatively as he opened the door.

They stepped inside and Carly felt dread creeping up in her. Spencer on the other hand let out a low whistle.

"It's _gargantuan_!" Spencer exclaimed in a loud whisper "I've never been in here! I don't know why I thought it was smaller…"

"We weren't doing anything! I swear! Don't call him, please, just give me a second chance!"

Carly looked at Spencer. "That's Sam yelling. At her mom probably."

Spencer frowned. "Then why isn't her mom yelling back?"

"And how is any of this fair in the first place! You're just over-reacting like you always do!"

"Should we go in?" Spencer asked quietly.

"No! Are you crazy? You have no idea how dangerous it is to get in between two yelling Puckett's." Carly hissed back.

"But only one of them is yelling." Spencer pointed out.

Carly groaned. "Fine, but you go in first."

Spencer slowly started walking towards Sam's yelling, which was coming from the kitchen. Sam was sitting across from Pam who was calmly sipping hot cocoa. Freddie was in between them, looking both guilty and confused.

"Uh…hey guys…we're here." Carly said as she waved awkwardly, stepping away from Spencer, her human shield.

Sam turned to look at them then back at Pam. "You called _them_? Why did you do that! Why are you going to drag them into this? This is between you and me!"

"And Freddie apparently." Pam said snidely.

Freddie's face turned a bright red as he sunk down in his seat.

Spencer cleared his throat. "So…are we just gathering together so we could celebrate New Year's early? I always bring my party with me…" Spencer said as he did an odd dance move.

"Spencer, Carly, take a seat please." Pam said as she stretched out her hand to show the empty seats.

Spencer and Carly quietly sat down. They felt as if they were in the principal's office, called to explain some scheme that was going on between other students.

"Mom, they aren't going to tell you anything that would confirm what your crazy mind came up with, so why don't you just drop it." Sam said, trying her best not to yell.

Pam ignored Sam. "Freddie and Sam still go over to your apartment after school."

"Yes, ma'am. If this is about them getting enough food, trust me, they do. Especially Sam. Sometimes she eats things that I didn't even know were edible." Spencer said pleasantly.

"What happened Christmas Eve? And I want the _entire_ story." Pam demanded to know.

Freddie held back a groan. This wasn't going to end good at all…

"Well…" Carly started as she glanced at everyone in the room before looking back at Pam. She chuckled nervously. "We were just...you know, stuck in the apartment, singing Christmas carols around a heater Spencer made…"

"And it worked too! It didn't even burst into flames once." Spencer announced proudly.

"I don't want to know about any stupid heater you made. I just want to know what Sam and Freddie were doing." Pam snapped.

"They were just arguing, annoying each other…avoiding each other." Spencer said that last part under his breath.

"What was that?"

Carly laughed. "Oh, Spencer didn't say anything…he just kind of…sneezed. Bless you, Spencer."

"Thanks Carly." Spencer said with a smile, hoping it was enough to cover his slip-up.

"See, Mom, you have nothing to worry about. So Spencer and Carly can just go back home and we can forget today even happened." Sam said.

Pam turned to glare at Sam. "I am not done here, so you will not interrupt me. Understood?" she practically growled.

Sam clenched her jaw and decided to listen to her mom just this once.

Carly looked at the two with curiosity, but didn't ask anything. She doubted she'd even get an answer.

"Spencer, you're the adult. So tell me what happened Christmas Eve." Pam continued.

"Well…you know, just…kid stuff. You remember what it was like being their age…they're silly, awkward little kids." Spencer said, trying to lighten the mood.

Pam slammed a hand on the table, frightening everyone but Sam. "I swear, if you don't tell me exactly what happened…"

Spencer gulped. "Okay, I will," Spencer looked down at his hands, which had suddenly become very interesting. "Sam and Freddie got locked in the iCarly studio and since the power was out, it was pretty cold and they had no blankets so…they were kind of…cuddling."

"It was only for body heat." Freddie groaned as he let his head fall into his hands.

Pam pursed her lips. "So that's why they avoided each other the rest of the time."

"…yeah…" Spencer said.

"And why would you avoid each other if it was just for body heat?" Pam asked, now looking at Sam and Freddie.

Sam looked away. For the first time in a really long time, she didn't have an excuse prepared. She glanced at Freddie who had his eyes shut tightly and his cheeks were burning red.

"Thank you, Spencer, Carly. You can leave now." Pam said as she stood up.

Sam frowned. "That was it? You wanted them here just so you could ask a few questions? Why didn't you just ask over the phone?"

"Don't worry, Sam. It's all right…" Carly said, hoping that she could prevent an argument between the two Puckett's.

"Because face to face I know that the Shay's can't lie." Pam said. "Both of you go to your rooms."

Freddie didn't protest as he slowly stood up. He looked at Carly and Spencer and shot them an apologetic look before going down the hallway into his room.

Sam wasn't about to go out without a fight though. "Mom, you know that this entire thing is unfair. None of this is my fault!"

"Uh…Carly, I think we should really be going…" Spencer said as he started walking backwards.

"I don't want to hear it, Sam. Your room, _now_."

"What exactly happened?" Carly asked, unable to take it anymore.

"Oh look! Someone made a snowman in the backyard. Isn't that cool looking!" Spencer pointed, trying to make the conversation go a different route.

"Why don't you explain what happened to Carly?" Pam asked Sam testily.

Sam narrowed her eyes. "I don't want to."

"Then go to your room or I tell her."

Carly watched them stare each other down and was half expecting them to develop a super power and be able to incinerate the other with only a look. "Is no one going to tell me anything?" Carly finally yelled.

Pam turned to Carly and Spencer. "It'd be better if you left, _now_."

"Yes, ma'am." Spencer said. "Come on, Carly. Let's go." Spencer said quickly as he grabbed Carly's wrist and dragged her out of the house.

Sam stayed in the kitchen, still staring at Pam, but this time with much less intensity. "Mom, please." Sam's voice was just above a whisper. "Don't call Dad."

"Sam…I said to go to your room." Pam said in a low voice.

Sam swallowed hard before turning around and doing exactly what Pam asked her to do.

* * *

Freddie stared up at his ceiling feeling horrible. Sam was in so much trouble because of him and now Pam was threatening to send her off to her dad's…wherever that was. He knew Sam said he lived in Ireland, but that was impossible! How did Sam expect him to believe that? It could not be true.

He heard Steven come home and there was about fifteen minutes worth of yelling, most of it coming from Pam. The yelling was muffled for the most part, but he could make out the topic of the argument. Pam was accusing Steven of lying about where he was. Sam's words came back to him, about Steven going back to his cheating ways.

Freddie snapped out of those thoughts. Steven was his dad and even though he did cheat on his mom, Freddie didn't want to think Steven would do it again to Pam.

The front door slammed and Freddie didn't hear anything else for a while. He turned his head to check the time. He sighed heavily at the time. It was two in the morning, New Year's Eve.

It had been almost seven hours since Pam called Spencer and Carly over. Freddie figured it was safe to leave his room for just a little bit, if anything to get something to eat. There was no way he was going to be able to sleep tonight. He felt too miserable to even try.

He got up, walked out of his room, and nearly yelled from fright at seeing Sam crouched down just outside her room. Freddie closed his eyes and pulled himself together. "Sam, what are you doing out here?" He whispered.

Sam stared at him. "I'm not speaking to you."

Freddie groaned inwardly. He sat down beside her. If there had been more lighting, Freddie would've noticed Sam's nose was red and her eyes looked a little swollen. "Look, I'm really sorry about what happened. I didn't…I wasn't exactly thinking…"

Sam scoffed.

Freddie let out quick sigh. "It's just…I don't know, Sam. Ever since we've had to live with each other, things have been getting kind of…weird, I guess. You know what I mean?"

Sam still didn't answer. Instead, she stared at the house phone that was in her hands.

"And just so you know, you looked pretty amazing in that bikini. You even have the perfect beach body."

Freddie looked over at Sam and saw a ghost of a smile on her face. He smiled, happy to see just that small smile from her. "Don't worry about anything, Sam. Everything's going to be all right. Whatever's going on between our parents, your mom's crazy mood swings…even us…it's all going to be all right."

Sam bit her lip and shook her head. "I'm still not speaking to you." She muttered.

Freddie laughed softly.

The hallway light turned on and both Freddie and Sam flinched from the brightness.

"What are you two doing out of your room?" Pam asked as she stood in front of them.

"We were just talking." Freddie said, his eyes adjusting as he looked at Pam.

Pam scoffed. "What makes you think I'm actually going to believe you, that you two were just _talking_?" Pam said as she stared at Freddie.

Freddie gulped, wishing he could disappear.

Sam stood up before Freddie could say anything. "We _were_ just talking. So leave Freddie alone."

"Do you want me to leave you alone with him too? That way, he can do exactly what his dad does to half the women he meets." Pam snapped.

"Freddie isn't like that!" Sam yelled.

"You know the saying Sam, 'Like father, like son.'"

"That isn't true with Freddie!"

"All men are the same, Sam! Get that through your head! All they want to do is to get laid by some girl with a pretty face! Your dad was like, Steven's like that and Freddie is like that too!" Pam yelled.

Having heard enough, Freddie stood up. "My mom always taught me never to snap at adults, but this is ridiculous! Just because you've been through some horrible times because of men, doesn't mean they're all the same! I'd never sleep with Sam just because! If I ever sleep with her it's because I actually love her! And I am _not_ like my dad."

Pam stared at Freddie, as did Sam. Sam didn't think Freddie had it in him to stand up to Pam like that.

Freddie's mind finally caught with what he said and his cheeks started to show a light shade of pink. He refused to back down, though.

"All right, Freddie. I'm sorry I said that." Pam said calmly.

Sam looked at her mom in shock. Pam never apologized. The only time she would apologize would be when she wanted something. Even Freddie blinked in small surprise.

"Could you go to your room while I talk to Sam?"

Oh…so that's what she wanted Freddie to do.

Freddie looked at Sam then back to Pam, giving her a small nod of his head. Without another word, he went into his room.

Pam looked down at the phone in Sam's hands once Freddie was in his room. "So you were listening to our conversation."

Sam held the phone tighter. "Just the first half."

Pam nodded her head. "Then you don't know what was decided."

Sam shook her head slowly.

Pam let out a heavy breath. "He's going to buy you a plane ticket. You're going to be leaving in two days. You need to start packing your things. I wanted you to stay a whole year, but he convinced me to let you come back in August and finish your senior year here. Whatever you're going to do after school is up to you."

"But they have a completely different school system." Sam argued.

"He's going to hire someone to homeschool you."

Sam pursed her lips. "You can't do this, Mom. Please don't send me away like this."

Pam pinched the bridge of her nose. "Sam, I'm really tired of…everything. I've got all kinds of problems that you just don't know about and it's better if you just leave while I sort things out."

"So I'm just going to be like a piece of property that you toss away for a while when you can't handle it?"

"Sam, you're adding to the problems by messing around with that Benson kid!"

"We're just friends!"

"Right, that's why he was straddling you while you were half naked!"

"It was an accident!"

"Whatever explanation you have, I don't want to hear it. You're going to live with your dad for eight months. My decision is final."

"This isn't fair!"

"Welcome to reality!" Pam yelled before spinning on her heel and walking away.

Sam let out frustrated yell before going in her room and slamming the door. She felt her eyes filling with tears, but she wasn't going to cry. No, crying meant she was sad and she wasn't sad…well, maybe a little, but she was mostly mad. Mad at herself for letting Freddie pin her like that, mad at Melanie for buying her that stupid bikini in the first place, mad at Pam for walking in, and mad especially at Freddie for just…being Freddie.

She lay on her bed and stared at Dusty and Willie sleep. Who was going to watch her bunnies?

The door opened slowly and Sam knew exactly who it was.

"Sam…are you okay?" Freddie asked as he took a few steps in.

"Don't come in." she grumbled, not moving to face him.

"I kind of heard what happened…"

"Just leave me alone, Freddie."

"I'm really sorry, Sam…about everything. I didn't-"

Sam reached her breaking point. She sat up and faced Freddie. "I'm moving to Ireland, Freddie and there's nothing I can do about it! I'm moving because my mom caught you on top of me! Now leave me alone!"

Freddie blinked. "Ireland?" he finally said after a few moments. "You're talking about some small town that just so happens to have the same name as the country, right?"

Sam smiled with no amusement. "No, Freddie. I'm moving to Ireland, _the country_. Now get out. I don't want to see you or talk to you." Sam said as she pushed him.

"But-"

"I said out!" Sam yelled pointing to the door.

Freddie turned around slowly and walked out, closing the door behind him. He walked into his room and laid on his bed. This was his fault. Sam was moving to Ireland because of him and now she wasn't even speaking to him. Sam not speaking to him made him feel even worse.

He had to make it up to her. His mind was already coming up with a list of things he could do.

* * *

"And there's nothing you can do?" Carly asked Sam as they sat in the living room of Sam's house.

Sam shook her head, sipping her peppy cola. "My dad already bought the plane ticket." She sniffled softly and rubbed her eyes. They were red from crying last night, but no one asked her about it, knowing she'd probably bite their heads off.

Carly frowned sadly as she watched the TV screen. They were watching the Big Ball drop in Times Square. There was only fifteen more minutes left.

Steven had miraculously taken Pam out of the house to a New Year's Eve Party a co-worker was having. Carly and Spencer canceled their party last minute to spend it with Sam and Freddie, who still weren't allowed to leave the house.

Spencer came back into the living room followed by Freddie. Both of them had two wine glasses of sparkling cider in their hands.

"All right, it's time to say our New Year's resolutions!" Spencer announced as he gave a glass to Carly.

Freddie handed a glass to Sam and she took it without even looking at him. Freddie sighed heavily as he sat next to her. He was getting tired of having to deal with her cold shoulder.

"Who wants to go first?" Spencer asked.

"I'll go first!" Carly said as she raised her hand.

"No one? Sweet! Then I'll go!" Spencer exclaimed, ignoring Carly's offer. "My resolution for this new year is to have at least two sculptures in the Seattle Museum of Art."

All three teenagers laughed.

Spencer frowned. "What? I'm being serious."

"Yeah, but that's what you say every year. And every year we laugh and every year you say, 'What? I'm being serious'." Carly said, mimicking Spencer's voice.

Spencer frowned, shoving Carly's head gently. "Well, this year it's going to happen."

"And you say that every year too." Sam added with a grin.

Spencer shook his head. "Whatever! Your turn Carly."

Carly looked up in thought for a few seconds. "My resolution is to not date so many guys this year and focus on school."

Sam scoffed. "And how long is that going to last? Three weeks?"

"I can do it!" Carly defended.

"Right…and Spencer will actually get two sculptures into a museum this year." Freddie said with a grin.

"I'll do it, you guys. Just watch me!" Carly said with a small pout on her face.

"All right, my turn!" Sam announced. "My resolution is to eat more fat cakes, bacon, and sausage. Oh and refuse to speak to the dork next to me."

Freddie rolled his eyes. "You can't make that your resolution."

"Carly, please tell him that my resolution can be whatever I want it to be."

"Sam, I'm right here and I just heard you say that."

"Oh yeah, and tell him that I can't hear anything he says either. He has to tell either you or Spencer and then I'll send him an answer through one of you guys." Sam added.

"Got it. Freddie, Sam said-"

"Spencer!" Carly snapped, unable to believe Spencer was about to relay the message. "Sam, you can not _not_ talk to Freddie."

"Yes I can. Watch."

Carly sighed. "Freddie, your turn."

"Well if Sam's resolution is to make sure she doesn't talk to me, then my resolution is to make sure that she does talk to me."

"Carly, please tell Freddie he's a stupid nub."

Carly groaned, already imagining how her year was going to end up.

"Oh, look! The countdown started already! Ten seconds left!" Spencer exclaimed.

They joined in the short countdown until they were down to one.

"Happy New Year!" they all exclaimed simultaneously. They clinked their glasses together and drank to the New Year.

They all hugged each other, but Sam tried to avoid Freddie. Freddie, on the other hand, was determined to give Sam a hug. He grabbed her arm and pulled her in for a tight hug.

Sam stiffened and refused to hug him back.

"I know you're really mad at me, but I promise, Sam, I'll make it up. Happy New Year. You have no idea how much I'm actually going to miss you." Freddie whispered in her ear

Sam felt a chill go up her spine, but she refused to let that affect her. She squirmed out of his hug and stared at him with a scowl. "…Happy New Year, Freddork…but I'm still not talking to you."

Freddie smirked. "You've talked to me today. One day down three hundred sixty-four left."

Sam rolled her eyes and tried not to smile. She failed horribly.

* * *

Sam adjusted her backpack as she stared at the security gate in front of her. Just like Pam said, she was leaving for Ireland today to live with her dad for what was probably going to be the longest eight months of her life.

"You sure you don't have anything illegal on you?" Pam asked.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Yes, Mom." She muttered.

Pam gave a soft sigh. "Well then, I guess you better be going."

Sam clenched her jaw. "I guess so." She said with a sarcastic bite.

Pam pulled Sam into a hug. "I really do love you, Sam, but this is going to be good for you and for me."

"Why can't I stay?" Sam asked, hoping for a last minute change of heart from her mom, even if it was a long shot.

"Because…we all need a cooling off period. This is for the best. Besides, you hardly see your dad. You should be happy...sort of."

Sam rolled her eyes.

"I'll miss you too. Don't get into any trouble and call me at least once a week."

"I will, don't worry." Sam mumbled as she started walking towards security.

"I'm sorry."

Sam spun around when she heard Pam say those words. The words she hardly ever said without wanting something. "What?"

Pam sighed and nearly rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry I haven't been that great of a mom. With everything that's happened this year…or last year I mean…I've kind of been messing up again."

Sam smirked. "You really think so?"

Pam rolled her eyes this time and pulled Sam into another hug. Sam hugged her back this time. "I love you, Sam."  
"Love you too, Mom."

"See you in August."

Sam sighed and nodded her head. She walked through security, found the gate and boarded the plane. While waiting for the plane to take off, she had time to think, even though she really didn't want to.

Carly had spent all of yesterday at her house, trying to hang out with her as much as possible. In an unlike Carly fashion, though, Carly didn't press for information about what happened between her and Freddie. Sam was thankful, considering she didn't want to tell anyone what happened.

Freddie had been hanging out with them too, but once again, Sam refused to speak to him. Carly had been crying when Sam finally had to leave and Freddie looked pretty close to crying as well. The only one that didn't seem to have cared was Steven. He said bye and everything, but that was it. Sam didn't like him anymore for Pam.

Carly and Freddie were going to take turns caring for Dusty and Willie and Carly was going to make sure Freddie posted an update on the iCarly website about the hiatus they were going to have to take.

Sam leaned back in her chair and let out a heavy breath. This was really going to suck, wasn't it? But she wasn't going to cry. At least not while on the plane. She had done enough crying the past two nights. To keep her mind off of things, Sam grabbed her backpack and started looking for her PearPod. She opened the first pocket and found a small, wrapped package right on the top.

Sam pulled it out with a slight frown. She didn't remember packing it…she didn't even know what it was. She slowly unwrapped it and stared, unable to believe it. It was a webcam. There was a small note attached to it. As she read it, she tried not to smile, but did anyways.

_Sam, I know you're still mad at me and you do have reason, but I'm really sorry. I've said it practically a million times already, but I'm not going to stop saying it until I think you believe me. I promise you, one day I'm going to make it up. Just you wait, Princess Puckett._

_I really don't know what I'm going to do without you. I'm probably going to end up going crazy listening to our parents arguing and then you're not going to be there to make school semi-fun. I'm going to miss you and like I said, I'm going to make sure I talk to you every day. So I thought I'd start by getting you webcams. The thing that started this big mess in the first place._

_ So I'll talk to you later and I can't wait to see you again. Freddie_

Sam folded the note and stuffed it in her jacket pocket. She wanted to hate Freddie so badly right now, but she just couldn't bring herself to hate him, especially after a note like that. Now she was going to hate him for making himself so un-hateable.

Sam sniffled then let out a groan. Great, she was acting like a hormonal teenager girl in love. She was so not in love with Freddie…okay, maybe she should change that to she probably wasn't in love with Freddie. She was only seventeen! How was she supposed to know if she was in love or not? But for right now, she was going to go with not being in love. That was just easier to deal with.

The light came on to fasten their seatbelts and the plane slowly started taking off. As it did, Sam did her best not to think about the people she was leaving behind. She didn't want to cry but didn't feel one small tear fall down her cheek.


	20. Preview

_A preview of what's next…_

"Carls, guess what! I get to come back early!"

***

"Why are you looking up wedding dresses…?"

***

"I swear, she was looking at houses for sell!"

***

"It's never going to work between us, so we just need to kill whatever feelings we have and move on."

***

"He doesn't come back home anymore. I don't know if it's because of a nightshift, or something else..."

***

"Open your mouth again and I promise you, I'll drown you myself!"

***

"There's a letter from the Seattle Museum of Art…"

***

"Green oranges! I bet no one's ever thought of that one before!" 


	21. The Exaggeration

**A/N: So...new chapter...after so long...so sorry! College is crazy! Anyways...please enjoy? Even though it's been so long...I'm such a horrible person for not updating in so long...*hangs head in shame and walks away***

* * *

The Exaggeration

Five Months Later…

Carly knew that she should be paying more attention to the road in front of her, but she couldn't help thinking about the conversation she had with Sam last week. Actually, there was only one thing from the conversation that she remembered.

_"Carly, guess what! I get to come back early!"_

Carly screamed from the delight at hearing those words. And maybe it was only a week early, but still. She was excited to see her best friend again.

"Okay, now there's a spot open in that lane. Why don't you…oh my guayava juice! I'm going to die!" Spencer cried out as he covered his eyes.

Carly rolled her eyes as she continued driving on the lane Spencer told her to switch on to. "There was no one coming from the other side and even if there was, I would've seen them and waited!"

"Yeah, but you didn't have to push on the gas pedal that hard! You had to have accelerated to at least ninety!"

"You won't even let me go past sixty." Carly deadpanned.

Spencer kept his eyes closed and took a few deep breaths. "Excuse me for not wanting to die young. Besides, you should be glad I even let you drive since you've never driven on the highway before."

"You know you can always pull over and let me drive. I've got more experience driving on the highway." Freddie said from the backseat.

Carly glared at him from the rear-view mirror. "I've got this Freddie. Besides, I want to show off for Sam."

"Maybe that's what Freddie here wants to do too." Spencer said with a huge smirk as he waggled his eyebrows.

Freddie just rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat. "I'm pretty sure that won't do anything to make Sam hate me less." He muttered.

Both Carly and Spencer heard what he said and they exchanged glances. Freddie had kept his word, to call Sam everyday and make her say at least one word to him. That one word usually ended up being a horrible insult before she hung up on him.

Carly gave a happy sigh and attempted to make the conversation lighter. "I just can't wait to finally see her again and give her a huge hug. We have so much to catch up on. You up to hanging out with us, Freddie?"

"Am I even allowed to?'

Carly rolled her eyes. "Of course you are. You are my friend and I am inviting you. If Sam doesn't like it, then…well, she'll just have to deal with it."

Spencer scoffed. "I'd really like to see Sam's expression when you tell her this."

Freddie groaned while Carly snapped her head towards Spencer. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Watch out for the semi!" Spencer cried out.

Carly quickly turned her attention back to the road, barely missing the semi Spencer was yelling about.

"Why don't we just all sit quietly and pray we actually make it to the airport?" Freddie suggested as he tightened his seat belt.

Spencer, tightening his seat belt as well, nodded his head. "I completely agree with Freddie."

* * *

Sam took a deep breath. She was finally here. Five months. It had to have been the longest five months of her life. Sure, she enjoyed finally being able to see her dad again, but being away from everything she grew up with…it was kind of hard. Not to mention that her dad actually placed rules and enforced them. He was worse than Steven for crying out loud!

She felt her phone buzz and pulled it out of her pocket. It was a text from her mom. She couldn't help the feeling of dread as she opened the message.

'Sam, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to pick you up. Something came up. Steven's supposed to get you.'

Sam sighed as she slipped her phone back in her pocket. She shouldn't be surprised. This was something that her mom would've done to anyone.

Checking she was in the right area for baggage claim, Sam took a seat and waited for all her suitcases to come out on the conveyor belt.

"Sam! Sam, over here!"

Sam's head shot up and she saw Carly running towards her. "Carly?" her face lit up with a huge smile as she stood up.

Carly wrapped her arms around her best friend. "Oh my goodness, it's been way too long! I've missed you so much!"

Sam laughed as she hugged Carly back. "Dude, I've missed you too! I've got some cool things from Ireland for you!"

Carly slowly pulled back and stared Sam down. "You bought them right?"

"Yeah, of course I did…most of them."

Carly shook her head, but the smile would not leave her face.

"Well if it isn't Sam, all grown-up. You're practically a world traveler now."

Sam grinned as Spencer approached them. "Missed you too, Spencer." She said as she gave him a hug.

"So, I'm guessing you guys came with Steven?"

"No, we didn't. He had to pick up an extra shift, so he asked if I could pick you up. I figured Carly and Spencer would want to come too." Freddie said, finally approaching them. He glanced between them and looked back at Sam. "Well, more like they needed to come too."

Sam stared at Freddie, her face going completely blank. She swore to herself that she was always going to hate him, but seeing him right here in front of her…it was harder than it seemed. It wasn't this hard when he randomly called her on her phone or over the webcam. Before her thoughts and emotions could get in the way, she plastered a fake smile on her face. "Hello, I'm Sam. What's your name?"

Freddie rolled his eyes. "Come on, Sam. Don't play games, you know exactly who I am."

Sam looked at Carly. "I don't think I've ever meet your friend here. Care to introduce me?"

Carly shifted from one foot to the other uncomfortably. "I, uh…" she looked to Spencer for help, but he just raised his hands, refusing to become part of the situation.

"Sam! There you are! We thought we lost you! Why didn't you wait for us?" a young man cried out in a heavy accent as he walked towards them.

Sam winced as she turned to look at him. "Sorry, I just got so excited that I kind of just took off."

He laughed, a laugh that would've made any girl melt. "That's actually what I thought you were going to do." He said in a low voice that actually made Sam blush. "Oh, your dad is getting the suitcases. He sent me to look for you, just to make sure you were all right."

"Wait, your dad's here too?" Spencer asked.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, he decided that he was in Ireland too long. Wanted a break from all the stupid Irish accents." She said.

"Wait, so you think my accent is stupid?"

"Of course it is, but don't think about that." Sam said with a mischievous grin.

"So are you going to introduce us?" Freddie asked tersely.

"Right, well this is Callum. Callum, these are my friends…practically my family actually." As she said this, her eyes wandered to Freddie. She quickly looked away though. Not the time or place. "Carly, Spencer, and…their friend whom I have yet to be introduced to."

Freddie rolled his eyes and shook his head. Carly wanted to say something reprimanding to Sam, but she couldn't think of anything at the moment. She was so entranced by Callum's wonderful green eyes that just made his short black hair seem so much darker. And the fact that he was a very nice height didn't hurt at all. And the scruf on his face was definitely working for him.

"Well, Callum, it's very nice to meet you." Spencer said, being the first one to speak. "Oh and this is Freddie." He said with an oblivious smile.

Freddie was about to object, that Sam was supposed to introduce him, but Callum spoke first.

"Wait, is this the same Freddie that you've told me so much about?" Callum asked with a grin. "Really, Sam? I would've thought he'd be taller."

Sam narrowed her eyes at Callum while a smug look appeared on Freddie's face.

"So you have heard about me." Freddie said, feeling quite pleased. "Care to elaborate on how much?"

Callum was going to answer, but not only did Sam give his hand and extremely hard squeeze, but her dad also showed up with a cart full of suitcases.

"I still can't understand how half of these suitcases are yours Sammy. It just blows my mind." Sam's dad looked at the three of them and smiled. "So I'm guessing you're our welcoming party. I'm Shane, Sammy's dad if you haven't realized it."

They all introduced themselves and once Freddie introduced himself, Shane had a similar grin on his face.

"Freddie…" Shane repeated. He turned to glance at Sam. "Thought he'd be taller, Sammy."

Sam just rolled her eyes. "Can we just go?" she grumbled. "I'm hungry and I'm tired and I just really want to sleep, and then eat, then sleep some more."

"I'll go to the hotel then with your dad. Don't do anything crazy." Callum said, pulling Sam closer to him.

Sam looked up at him with a smile. "I won't. Promise."

"See you later then."

Sam stood on her tiptoe and gave him a quick kiss on his lips. "See you, babe." She let him go and quickly went to Carly. Before anyone could say anything, Sam linked arms with Carly and started pulling her away.

* * *

Despite everyone's questions and curiosity, no one asked Sam any questions on the way from the airport back to her place. One, because they knew she would avoid their questions and two, because she fell asleep as soon as Spencer started driving because of her jet lag. The ride back was full of awkward silence from the Shay's and a broody silence from Freddie. The only thing that interrupted it was the occasional snore from Sam.

When they got to the house, Spencer was the one elected to wake Sam up, which resulted in him holding his side where Sam kicked and punched him.

Carly helped Sam inside while Freddie and Spencer carried her suitcases in.

"Where's my mom?" Sam mumbled.

"Um, I have no idea…" Carly said as she turned to look at Freddie for an answer.

Freddie just shrugged his shoulders. "She was gone when I woke up."

Carly led Sam to her room and laid her on the bed. Sam was out as soon as she hit the bed. Carly came back out with a heavy sigh. "I kind of figured Sam was going to be like this. She's probably got really bad jet lag."

Freddie nodded his head distractedly.

"Well…Carly, we should be leaving…are you going to be fine alone with her, Freddie?" Spencer asked.

Freddie didn't answer for a bit. Then he looked to Carly and spoke. "Who was that? At the airport?"

"You mean, Callum?"

"Yes, who else? Who is? Did Sam ever mention him? Is he her boyfriend or something?"

Carly just shook her head. "This is the first time I've ever meet him. He probably is her boyfriend though. That would explain their kiss."

"Someone jealous?" Spencer asked with waggling eyebrows.

Freddie just rolled his eyes. "I'll give you guys a call when Sam finally wakes up."

* * *

Sam rolled over on her side and slowly opened her eyes. The clock on her nightstand read eleven A.M. She groaned and stretched some before getting up and walking out of her room. She went to the kitchen, expecting to see someone there, but it was empty. She made her way to the fridge, pulled out a sausage, and began eating it.

She really didn't feel like yelling to see if anyone was in the house. Instead, she walked out into the backyard and would've taken a seat on the porch swing if Freddie didn't happen to be there.

He saw the look on her face and knew she wasn't going to say anything. So he stood up and held his hands out in surrender. "I know, you're still refusing to speak to me. I'll leave if you feel more comfortable."

Sam stared at him for a while before walking towards the swing and sitting down. She then grabbed his arm and pulled him onto the swing as well.

Freddie stayed calm. This was definitely progress. He started wondering if now would be a good time to show her what he had been working on for her.

"How long was I asleep?" she asked in between bites of her sausage.

Freddie stared at her for a moment, wondering if she had really just spoken to him.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Just give me an answer, nub." She grumbled.

Freddie resisted the urge to smile as that name and instead gave her an answer. "Right…um, almost a whole day actually. You did get up a few times to use the restroom, but other than that, you've been dead asleep."

Sam nodded her head, continuing to eat her sausage. "How's my mom and Steven?"

"I really don't know actually. I hardly see them around anymore and whenever I see them together, they're usually quiet. I don't know if it's because they're ignoring each other or it's a comfortable silence." Freddie looked down, "Sure doesn't seem like a comfortable silence though."

"Are they here?"

"Yeah, they're both upstairs, but your mom is working on something and my dad brought his work home so he's working on that."

Sam pursed her lips. "Did my mom ask for me yet?"

Freddie took a deep breath before answering. "No. I, um…I don't even think she knows you're here."

Sam didn't continue their conversation, now focusing on her sausage.

"Sam…why are you even talking to me?" Freddie asked after a few moments of silence.

Sam let out a heavy sigh. "I'll only do it when no one's around. Don't want to ruin my reputation."

Freddie scoffed lightly with a small smile. He glanced over at Sam and noticed a small smile on her face as well. "I really missed you, Sam. Life was crazy here and I honestly didn't know how to handle it without you."

Sam really didn't know how to respond and to be honest, she was feeling incredibly uncomfortable with the way the conversation was going. So she blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "I have a boyfriend. Callum."

Even though Freddie knew it was coming, it still was a shock to hear. Freddie swallowed hard. He had no right to be feeling any of the things he was feeling. This was Sam and he shouldn't be feeling anything. If anything he should feel sorry for Callum. "That's…great."

"We're talking about getting married."

This was where Freddie expressed his shock. He stared at her, trying to see if something in her face would give away the prank she was trying to pull. Nothing. She was being dead serious. "Sam! What are you thinking?!" he finally yelled.

Sam quickly turned to look at him as he yelled at her. A dark look passed over her face.

"You're not even eighteen yet! How can you be thinking about marriage right now?! And how long have you even known this guy? For all you know he could be some kind of con artist!" Freddie continued yelling as he stood up to tower over her.

The dark look on Sam's face only darkened as she stood up and towered over Freddie. "You have no right to say any of that stuff! I'm dating Callum and I'm going to marry him since that's what I want!"

"Why do you want to marry him?! What's so great about him?!"

"He's just really cool and I'm going to marry him!"

Freddie narrowed his eyes as they stared each other down. "Do you even love him?" he asked in a low voice.

Sam swallowed hard and took a couple of heavy breaths. "I…" she let out a growl before clenching her hand into a fist and bringing it towards Freddie's side. "I don't have to answer that!"

As Freddie held his side where Sam just punched him, he watched her go inside. Guess his surprise was going to have to wait. He pulled out his phone and sent Carly a quick text to let her know Sam was awake and alive. They were probably going to be here within the hour. Maybe they could talk Sam out of this ridiculous idea of marrying Callum. Freddie groaned, just thinking about Sam getting married made him feel queasy. She was not supposed to get married…at least not to Callum.

* * *

Sam sat on the couch and stared at the TV. She had been sitting there for about fifteen minutes. Freddie still hadn't come inside and to be honest, she was glad. He could stay out there for all she cared.

She didn't exactly know why she told him she was marrying Callum. Her and Callum had only been dating for a month and while things had gotten pretty serious, the thought of marriage had never crossed their minds. So why did she tell Freddie that?

Sam groaned as she grabbed the remote and began flipping through the channels. She knew she shouldn't have said anything to Freddie. It was just going to confuse her all over again.

"Well if it isn't my Sam, finally made it back from Ireland."

Sam turned turned around to see Pam standing right behind her with her arms crossed, but a smile on her face. Sam slowly stood up and stared at her mom awkwardly.

"Don't just stand there! Come give me a hug! I'm so glad you're back home!" Pam exclaimed as she moved towards Sam.

Sam stayed in her spot and barely made an effort to hug Pam back.

"So? How was it? How was Ireland?"

Sam continued staring Pam down. This was crazy. "Why didn't you pick me up?" Sam asked in a quiet voice.

Pam frowned. "Pick you up from where?"

"The airport, Mom." Sam said with obvious anger in her voice. "Then you say Steven was supposed to pick me up and he never showed his face. The Shay's were the ones that ended up picking me up."

"Steven wasn't there?" Pam asked. Her eyes narrowed. "That rat bas-"

"Mom, this isn't about Steven not picking me up! Why didn't _you_ pick me up!?"

"I told you, Sam. Something came up and I got busy."

"Oh, something more important than your daughter? You know what? It makes sense though. You send me away to Ireland and practically forget I exist! Why don't I just go live there permanently with Dad? I bet you wouldn't even care!"

"Sam-"

Sam didn't want to hear anything. She turned away and started walking to her room.

At that moment, Freddie walked back inside and saw the look on Sam's face. He knew something big just happened. "Sam…?" he approached her slowly.

Someone started ringing the doorbell and Pam went to answer it.

"Just leave me alone, Freddie." She snapped.

"No, what happened?" Freddie continued as he grabbed her arms.

Pam opened the door and stood there in shock. "Shane?"

Shane gave Pam a careful smile. He pulled a bouquet of roses from behind his back. "Hello Pamela."


	22. The Cover-Up

A/N: Sort of short, but hey, I am still posting it. Getting back into the hang of this thing and I think I am definitely getting my muse back again :) Anyways, enjoy this chapter and no matter what please stay tuned for the next chapter as there will be explanations of certain things that come up in this chapter...

* * *

The Cover-Up

"Dad? What are you doing here?" Sam asked as she pulled away from Freddie.

Before Shane could answer, Pam slammed the door in his face.

"Mom! Let him come in!" Sam exclaimed as she hurried to open the door again.

"I don't want him in this house!" Pam yelled at Sam.

"It's not even your house, so you don't get to say anything!" Sam yelled back, swinging the door wide open.

Shane was still standing there, but with a confused expression. "Can I come in?"

"No,"

"Yes,"

Pam and Sam both glared at each other as they gave their answers simultaneously.

"Uh…hi again Mr. Gallagher." Freddie said as he decided to step forward and see if he could make this less of a conflict. "You can go ahead and come in."

Shane gave Freddie a charming smile. "Thank you, Freddie. I knew you were a good boy." he slowly stepped in and turned to Pam. "I thought you might like some roses."

Pam glared at the roses, then at Shane. "I hate roses."

Shane frowned. "No you don't. They're your favorite flowers. 'Cheesy, cliché, but still romantic,' you always said."

"That was years ago." Pam said as she crossed her arms.

"But I don't think much has changed." Shane challenged with a charming smile.

Pam let out a frustrated sigh before snatching the flowers out of Shane's hands. "I'm only taking them because you'll probably ruin them somehow." She growled as she made her way to the kitchen.

"So why are you here, Dad? Better yet, where's Callum?" Sam asked with a trace of a smile at Callum's name.

Freddie glanced at her and could see the smile on her face, but could also tell she was still extremely upset. He so wished he could talk with her right then and there, but she would probably never open up. And after hearing her asking for Callum, he wasn't sure if he even wanted her to open up to him. She might end up gushing about how happy she and Callum were and all their wedding plans. He hardly knew the guy, but already, Freddie hated him.

"I came to see you and since you're living with your mother, I figured I could see her too. And Callum was still sleeping when I left the hotel. You can come by later to see him."

"Why in the world was there yelling?" Steven asked as he made his way downstairs.

"Shane, why don't you meet Steven, my _boyfriend_." Pam said as she immediately wrapped her arms around Steven's waist and presented him to Shane.

While Steven was giving Pam a curious look, Shane looked Steven over. He pursed his lips and gave a small nod. "Well, from what Sam's told me, you sound like a good man. I can see where Freddie gets his looks from. You're lucky to have landed Pamela." Shane said politely.

Sam rolled her eyes and Freddie looked down. They both knew their parents relationship and knew Shane was only seeing the shallow part of it.

It looked like Steven was about to say a rude, but still polite, remark, but Pam tightly squeezed his side and he didn't say whatever was on his mind. "I am lucky to have her." Was what he said instead. He even wrapped his arm around her, almost possessively.

"I don't want to be here right now." Sam grumbled. "I'm taking off to Carly's."

"I can take you." Freddie quickly offered. "I was kind of planning on heading out there too."

Sam glared at him before rolling her eyes and walking out the door.

Freddie nodded at the adults, before grabbing his keys from the table and dashing off after Sam.

Shane watched them with interest. "And they're living together too? I would've thought they'd kill each other by murder or snogging by now."

* * *

"So yeah, Spencer has about five new sculptures up in the apartment." Freddie said as they came to stand in front of the Shay's door.

"Aside from already knowing more than half of the information you decided I needed to be caught up on, I'm not going to be speaking or listening to you as soon as we walk through that door."

"Why Sam? What is the big deal? At least tell me you miss busting my chops and embarrassing me in front of everyone." Freddie pleaded.

Sam ignored him completely and instead walked through the front door.

"Ah, Sam and Freddie! I never thought I would miss you two coming over uninvited and without any kind of prior notification!" Spencer exclaimed with a smile from the kitchen.

Sam grinned at him. "Guess life was pretty boring without me."

"You have no idea! It was like living in a soap opera! Freddie would come over every day and complain about how you refused to speak to him and that he couldn't believe any of this happened and that it was all his fault and how there was so much arguing going on back home. I bet I can even repeat everything he said word for word 'cause he repeated it so often.

Sam glanced at Freddie and held back a laugh. Freddie glared Spencer down with the tips of his ears turning a bright red.

"I was not complaining." Freddie growled.

"Then what do you call this? 'Sam won't talk to me. I really miss her. I wish she would stop being so stubborn and talk to me already. I want to see her so I can tal-'" Spencer's impersonation of Freddie, which sounded exactly like a whining five-year-old girl, was interrupted by a pillow hitting Spencer in the face. It was of course thrown by Freddie.

Sam couldn't hold back her laugh this time. "Well, Freddie had better get used to me not speaking to him, because it's going to be a long time before I actually do." Sam announced as she plopped down on the couch.

"Come on, Sam. You were talking to me at the house and even on the ride here. Just talk to me in front of other people already!" Freddie exclaimed.

Sam frowned as she looked around the room, purposefully skipping over Freddie. "Did you hear something, Spencer?"

"Uh, yeah. It was Freddie. He said-"

"She heard what I said!" Freddie snapped as he sat on the other end of the couch.

"Is that Freddie?" Carly yelled from her room upstairs.

"Yeah! And Sam's here too!" Spencer yelled back.

After a couple of seconds, they heard Carly running down the stairs. "Sam! Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" Carly practically yelled as she takcled Sam with a huge hug.

"Carls, you already gave me a hug at the airport! That's enough touching for the rest of the year." Sam said as she squirmed her way out of Carly's hug.

Carly gave her a slight glare. "Excuse me for missing you so much. It was really boring here without you."

"Yeah, Spencer was telling me about that and how someone was whining about me refusing to speak to him…?" she said with a grin.

Freddie just rolled his eyes and stood up, making his way into the kitchen to stand next to Spencer. He frowned as he looked down in the bowl where Spencer was mixing…something. "What is that?"

"You know…" Spencer said with a shrug. "It's…" Spencer frowned as he tilted his head and looked at the contents of the bowl. "I actually don't know anymore…"

"So since school's already out, we need to make plans for the week and then pick up iCarly again. You have no idea how many comments we've been getting on the site. I think this break made iCarly even more famous!" Carly said with a grin.

"Just don't plan too much. I'm still tired." Sam said.

Carly narrowed her eyes. "You slept for an entire day, how can you still be tired?"

"What? I like my sleep!"

Carly just shook her head and moved on to a different subject. "Well, when we do go hang out, you need to tell me all about Callum."

Sam smiled. "Callum…he's so great."

Carly held in a squeal as she grabbed Sam's hand. "I'm so excited! But I'm guessing that whole crush thing you had earlier…" at this, she glanced over at Freddie who was still preoccupied with Spencer's latest creation.

Sam slapped Carly's leg, forcing her to look away from Freddie. "Whatever was between us is gone completely. I seriously hate him. He's the reason why I had to go to Ireland anyways." She hissed.

"Yeah, but if it wasn't for him, you never would've meet Callum in the first place."

Sam just crossed her arms and refused to look at her.

"What happened between you two anyways? I still couldn't get anything out of either of you guys." Carly said quietly, keeping in mind Freddie was just across the room.

"Carly, you might need to call Poison Control. I think Spencer just ate half a glue stick." Freddie called from the kitchen.

Carly sighed loudly as she pulled her phone out of her pocket. "Spencer, that's the second time this month I'm calling them! Please don't make me put them on speed dial too!"

* * *

After spending almost half an hour on the phone with Poison Control, Carly took it upon herself to take Spencer to the hospital to make sure he was going to be fine. She of course invited both Sam and Freddie, but Sam declined. She said that she didn't feel like going into a hospital because their food sucked. Carly pointed out that she wouldn't even be eating any of the food. Sam then brought up the fact that if she was in any place that served some kind of food, she would most likely eat it, no matter how bad it tasted.

So Sam was left in the Shay's apartment while Spencer, Carly, and Freddie went to the hospital. With nothing else to do, Sam cleaned out their fridge of all meat products and started listening to all the current music Carly had on the computer. She of course couldn't just sit there and listen to music, so she also started looking up random stuff online.

Despite all the pictures and memes she was looking at, nothing could pull her attention away from the thoughts in her head. Two of them being she still couldn't believe she told Freddie she was going to get married and the fact that she _couldn't_ see herself getting married to Callum.

Sam really tried to think back to exactly what she was thinking when she told Freddie that little lie, but she couldn't come up with anything. Okay, that wasn't entirely true, but Sam wasn't sure if she wanted to acknowledge what she was thinking when she blurted out that statement. If someone were reading her thoughts, they'd say right away that her purpose was to make Freddie jealous.

Getting married didn't sound like such a bad idea, but Sam knew she couldn't be able to handle it right now. She wasn't even out of high school yet and she really could not see herself getting married to Callum. He was great, he really was. The way they meet and how he treated her and just the way he would always listen to her and take her 'love pats' as she liked to call them. But deep down she knew he wasn't the guy for her.

Sam sat up on the stool and typed in a new search. Just because she knew she was not getting married in the near future didn't mean that she couldn't look at wedding webpage loaded with all different types of wedding dresses and Sam started to slowly browse through all of them.

Despite not being a girly girl, Sam actually felt kind of happy looking through all the different wedding dresses and could actually say she was starting to understand why other girls did the same thing.

As she continued browsing through all the dresses and putting her entire focus on the images with music playing in the background, she didn't hear the front door slowly open or the footsteps that slowly made their way towards her. So of course when she felt arms wrap around her, Sam did what her instincts always first told her to do. She attacked.

While keeping her seat on the bar stool, she spun around and grabbed the person, put them in a choke hold while twisting their arm behind their back to the point where if they moved, their arm would be broken instantly.

"Sam! It's just me! Let go! You're hurting me!"

Sam blinked a few times and it finally registered that it was Callum. "Dude, what the heck? I thought you knew better than to sneak up on me?" she growled as she let go of him and gave him a little shove.

Callum rubbed his neck where her arm had been and rolled his shoulders a bit. "I practically slammed the door and stomped my way over here. Didn't you hear me?"

Sam pursed her lips. "…no…"

Callum frowned then looked over her shoulder to the computer screen. "What is that?"

Sam's eyes widened as she remembered what was on the screen. She spun around and exited off of the window. "Nothing, it was nothing…I was just-"

"That wasn't nothing, Sam. That was a page full of wedding dresses." Callum stared at her with a confused look. "Why are you looking up wedding dresses…?"

"I wasn't."

"Yes you were! I saw them on the screen."

Sam slapped him.

Callum held his cheek where Sam slapped him, a red hand print slowly beginning to form. "What was that for?!"

"Because you're being annoying with your questions!" Sam snapped as she hopped off the bar stool and sat on the couch.

"My questions? Excuse me for asking questions when my girlfriend is looking at wedding dresses!"

"What did I tell you about calling me that! I don't like that word!"

"And why not?" Callum asked in a pleading voice. He took a seat next to her. "Sam, we've been seeing each other for nearly four months. Why can't we just call each other boyfriend and girlfriend already?"

"Because that means commitment. I'm not ready for that."

"And yet you were looking at wedding dresses. That would give any guy the signal that you're ready for the ultimate commitment."

Sam glared at him.

"So what are we Sam? Friends? Lovers? Friends with benefits?"

"I don't know! Can we just…not do any kind of labels?"

"Why Sam? What is so horrible about labels? When we go up to people I want to be able to introduce you as _my_ girlfriend."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Just stop, Callum."

"Well explain it to me!"

"I just don't want a label!"

"Why?"

Sam stood up, getting tired of hearing Callum, and exploded on him. "Because I don't even want you as my boyfriend! I don't care what happened during these past four months! I don't care that you listened to me or that we both lost our virginity together! All of those long nights together doesn't mean you can label me! And I _definitely_ don't want you as a boyfriend!"

Looking back, Sam wondered if she broke a mirror by accident or a black cat walked in front of her. Something of that type had to have happened since Spencer, Carly, and Freddie had just walked in and heard every bit of Sam's explosion.

Sam slowly turned around to look at them, but the expression that stuck to her the most was Freddie's. Not only was he shocked, but he looked hurt and extremely confused. Sam let out a frustrated growl as she pushed past Callum and stormed her way upstairs into Carly's room, slamming the door shut behind her.

Callum ran a hand through his hair and blew out a heavy breath. "I'm really sorry…none of you were supposed to hear any of that. You know Sam…she just had her emotional days. I honestly think she should be put on some kind of medication to control those emotions."

Freddie's death glare towards Callum only increased. If Freddie had his way, Callum would've been dead ten times over. He moved out of the doorway and pointed outside. "You need to leave. Right now." He ground out through clenched teeth.

"Freddie, you can't kick him out," Carly said carefully.

Callum held up his hands. "No, it's fine. He's probably right." He walked towards the opened door and stopped once he was outside the apartment. "Just tell Sam to call me when she calms down."

Carly was going to answer, but Freddie slammed the door in his face.

"What was that for?" Carly exclaimed.

"He doesn't deserve her and you know it." Freddie growled as he made his way to the bottom of the stairs. He didn't make a move to go up though. If he even showed his face to Sam right now, she'd definitely kill him.

"We hardly know him. They could just be going through a rough patch."

Freddie scoffed.

"I would just like to erase that whole comment from my head." Spencer mumbled as he sat down to watch TV.

"Maybe that's what we _all_ should do." Carly said as she pointedly looked at Freddie. "I'm going to talk to her. You should stay here with Spencer."

Freddie silently moved aside and took a seat next to Spencer while Carly made her way upstairs. They were quiet for a few moments until Freddie finally said something. "I just can't believe Sam would do something like that…"

"Even though she said all that stuff, she might really like this Callum dude."

"Yeah, but still…"

"Is someone jealous?" Spencer teased.

Freddie just crossed his arms. "Why would I even be jealous?"

"Please, Freddie. I've been around longer than you have and I've seen the looks you two give each other…" Spencer said as he waggled his eyebrows. "And I'm not as clueless as you guys think either!"

Freddie laughed lightly at Spencer's last comment. "That still doesn't mean I'm jealous."

Spencer scoffed. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, but I know what's really going on."

Freddie didn't say anything else as Spencer slowly flipped through the channels, trying to find something to watch. Freddie mulled over Spencer's words. Even if he was jealous, there was no way he was ever going to admit, especially to himself.


	23. The Liar

A/N: Getting better at updating... :) So this chapter is just a whole bunch of explanation, which I'm sure you readers are dying to find out. I hope you enjoy this chapter and leave your thoughts at the end! Oh, and someone brought up if the tree house mentioned before was ever going to surface...well, it is and you guys won't believe the first scene I've got planned out for that one... ;)

* * *

The Liar

Carly carefully knocked on the door (to her own room, but she didn't focus on that fact) and slowly opened it. "Sam? Can I come in?"

Sam was lying face down on Carly's bed with her face buried in a pillow. "Just go away!" she yelled, even though it came out muffled from the pillow.

Carly came in anyways, shutting the door behind her. She took a seat on the bed and awkwardly started smoothing out creases in her comforter. "So…" she said, not knowing exactly where to start. "Spencer's okay…the doctor's figured out he didn't eat a glue stick. It was just coconut oil."

Sam made no response.

"Um…what were you up to while we were gone?"

At this, Sam lifted herself up by her elbows, glared at Carly for a moment, and then buried her face back in the pillow.

Carly grimaced. "Right…stupid question." She muttered. Carly searched her brain for something she could say, some kind of psychology trick she learned on TV. Nothing came up though. After a few minutes, Carly decided to just go with the basics. Ripping it off like a band-aid. "What was that whole thing between you and Callum about?"

"I don't want to talk about it, Carly." Sam growled.

"Why not? It's obviously got you really upset."

"Because, I just don't!"

"You know what, Sam, you are being incredibly selfish right now!" Carly exclaimed as she grabbed a pillow and tossed it at Sam's back.

Sam sat up, frowning at Carly with surprise.

"Ever since you left for Ireland, you've been different. I thought it was just because we could only talk over Skype and Skype isn't the same thing as face to face, but when you got back, I started realizing that you really did change and I don't know if I like it! And I can't even believe you never told me anything about Callum! We're friends and I tell you about all the guys I liked and then you go off and lose your virginity to this guy?"

"Carly-"

"It's not right, Sam! I thought we were friends."

"We are Carly!" Sam exclaimed. "It's just…"

"Yeah, you moved to Ireland and grew up. That's what happened, isn't it?"

"No, it's not."

"Yes it is! Admit it! You think you're so special now!"

"No I don't! You know I didn't even want to go to Ireland! It's Freddie's fault that I went there!"

"And that's another thing you've yet to explain! I know something big happened between you two, but what?!"

"I'd explain things to you if you'd shut up and let me!" Sam yelled.

Carly stared at her for a few moments. "Promise?"

"Yeah, I was going to tell you anyways…eventually."

At this Carly narrowed her eyes, but didn't say anything. She just waited for Sam to start talking.

Sam really didn't want to have this conversation right now. She looked down at the pillow in her hands and started playing with the threads. "So…I kind of met Callum the first month I was in Ireland…"

* * *

Four Months Ago…

_"Come on, Sam. Get your shoes on. The car's here already and we're going to be late. Do you know how I'll look like if I'm late? They're having this party in my honor." Shane said as he ushered Sam towards the front door._

_ Sam rolled her eyes as she slipped on her flats as she walked. "I don't get why I have to go! I don't like parties with old people and especially when they have stupid Irish accents."_

_ Shane shook his head. "I swear, you're just like your mother…"_

_ Sam narrowed her eyes at him. "Gee, thanks Dad, considering you left her."_

_ "We're not having this conversation right now. I love you and I think you're a wonderful young lady and you know that. Now let's go already."_

_ They stepped outside into the crisp evening air and stepped into the black car that was waiting for them. Shane tapped the privacy window to let the chauffeur know they were in and the car pulled off._

_ It was quiet in the car for a while until Sam's phone dinged. She pulled it out of her pocket and quickly read the text. From the dim lighting in the car, Shane could see her attempting to hide a smile as she put the phone down without replying. The phone dinged twice more, causing Sam to read the new messages and once again hiding a smile._

_ "Is that Frankie?" Shane asked, trying to make conversation._

_ Sam quickly put her phone down and scowled at Shane. "I don't know a Frankie, Dad."_

_ Shane pursed his lips. What was his name again? The one Sam kept going on about… "Freddie, right?"_

_ Sam just shook her head and looked out the window._

_ "How long have you two been dating?"_

_ "What?!" Sam exclaimed._

_ Shane frowned. "Did I say something wrong? I mean, from the amount that he texts you and the number of times he calls…I know it's probably dreadfully early for him right now, so he must really like you if he's texting you right now."_

_ Sam crossed her arms. "We aren't dating. I don't even like him. The only reason I hang out with him is because he's Carly's friend."_

_ Shane nodded his head in mock understanding. "Of course, Sammy. Whatever you want to believe."_

_ The car stopped and the door was opened by the chauffeur. "We've arrived Mr. Gallagher."_

_ Sam looked at the huge mansion where the party was. It was even bigger than Steven's. It was probably filled with stuck-up rich Irish people. Sam could tell she was going to hate this party already._

_ Sam had managed to find a secluded corner where she wouldn't be bothered by people asking to hear her 'American' accent. The first few times, it was funny, but now it was getting old. She couldn't wait until Shane finished 'socializing' with everyone. He claimed he had to do it to keep a good name with the company he worked for._

_ "Someone sitting next to you?"_

_ Sam looked up and saw a guy about her age standing in front of her. She gave him a bored expression before shaking her head and going back to her game on her PearPod. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him sit and start tapping his hands on his knees in a fast rhythm. It was getting annoying._

_ Sam finally looked at him and gave him a glare. "Do it one more time and my fist will have an impromptu meeting with your face."_

_ Usually a statement like that combined with her glare would send anyone running, but he just laughed. His nose crinkled up, his cheeks made his green eyes squinty, and he showed off a perfect set of teeth. "I don't think I've ever meet an American girl that's as feisty as you are."_

_ If there was one thing that she hated the most, it was being called "an American girl." She had enough of this guy. She raised her fist to punch him, but before she could add any force, he grabbed her fist, uncurled her fingers, and held it in his own. "I'm Callum."_

_ Her glare only intensified. She pulled her hand away from his and stood up._

_ "Wait, don't leave. I didn't mean to offend you." He said as he stood up. "Look, you're the only person here who looks like my age and isn't a complete bore. I was just hoping we could talk until this party was over._

_ Sam glanced around the room at all the adults in their fancy outfits. "Your parents part of this group?"_

_ Callum nodded his head. "It's actually our house."_

_ Sam rolled her eyes, knowing Callum only said that so she could be impressed. "Then you must know what rooms none of these stuffy people will go into."_

_ Callum grinned and grabbed her hand, starting to lead her through the crowds._

_ Sam followed without question, until something dawned on her. She stopped abruptly and Callum stopped to give her a questioning look. "We are only talking. Keep your hands to yourself and if you even think about touching me, you will lose more than a hand."_

_ Callum held up his hands to show that he wasn't touching her. "I would never think of doing anything you didn't want to."_

* * *

_Two months later, Callum was making frequent visits to Sam at her dad's house and he was really the only friend Sam had made while she was in Ireland. Shane was ecstatic about the friendship since Callum's parents were a huge shareholder in a company that he was trying to partner up with. It was March and Shane had been invited to a party celebrating St. Patrick's Day, but Sam refused to go. Instead, she was going to hang out at the house and video chat with Carly._

"So you've got any plans for today? Any parties you're going to show up to later?"_ Carly asked conversationally as she ate some soup._

_ Sam shook her head. "No, I hate parties here. The ones my dad gets invited to are full of old boring people and the ones that people our age have…well, they're pretty much drunk half the time."_

_ Carly grimaced. _"Well, that's not good. At least you've got me to talk with, right?"

_Sam smiled. "Yup, even if it's an unholy hour right now."_

_ Carly started talking some more, but Sam stopped paying attention. The front door opened and Callum walked in._

_ "Samantha! Just the person I was looking for!" he exclaimed._

_ Sam quickly turned to the computer. "I've got to go, Carls. Talk to you later." She shut her laptop before Carly could say anything, but more importantly before she could see Callum._

_ "Oh, I hope I wasn't interrupting anything, was I?"_

_ Sam frowned as she really listened to the way he was talking. His words were slurred and now that she was actually paying attention, it looked like he was having a hard time standing up. "Callum, are you okay?" she asked carefully, standing up and slowly making her way towards him._

_ Callum nodded his head. "I am feeling spectacular! Just got back from a party…oh, you should've gone, Sam! It was one of the best ones of the year! I love St. Patrick's Day!" _

_ Sam had grabbed Callum's arm and started leading him to a chair. "Dude, I know you're at legal drinking age, but did you really have to go out and get yourself drunk?"_

_ Callum just laughed. "I just love your American accent, Samantha!" he sat in the chair Sam brought him too and started looking around. "This isn't my house."_

_ "No, it's not. It's mine. You should really get back to your own."_

_ Callum just stared at her. "You know, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on."_

_ Sam rolled her eyes. "You're drunk."_

_ He grabbed her chin and made her look at him. "I'm being serious, Sam." He said, suddenly sounding completely sober._

_ "You're delusional."_

_ "Why don't you believe me? Has no one ever told you that?"_

_ Sam didn't answer him._

_ "Wait, not even this Freddie guy? Has he not told you anything about the way you look."_

_ "Callum, it doesn't matter what Freddie does or doesn't say."_

_ "He's an idiot. He never should have let you go. I don't know what is wrong with him. I can't believe he never took a chance with you."_

_ Sam looked down. She really didn't want to think about this right now._

_ Then, everything in her mind went blank as she found her lips connecting with Callum's. It was a hard kiss and one that completely caught her off guard._

_ Not even five seconds into the kiss did Sam pull away. She glared at Callum. "What the heck was that for?"_

_ "You're beautiful, Sam and you deserve to know that."_

_ She slapped him. "That's not how I want to be told!"_

_ "Aw, come on, Sammy. Don't go off on one of your emotional tirades."_

_ "What do you mean my emotional tirades?"_

_ "You know exactly what I'm talking about. 'Oh, I'm so miserable here in Ireland. I miss my friends back in Seattle. I wish Freddie wouldn't be such a dork. Poor me.'"_

_ Sam sent him a death glare, but said nothing back._

_ "I've listened to you so many nights talk about Freddie and to be honest, I can't believe you like this guy."_

_ "I don't like him." She mumbled, crossing her arms._

_ "Really? Because no matter what you say about him, you talk about him enough to make it seem like you do."_

_ Callum continued staring at her. Sam rolled her eyes and moved to the kitchen. "You're drunk. You have no idea what you're talking about."_

_ "I know that I love you!" Callum exclaimed as he shot up from the chair and spun around. "Samantha Puckett, I love you!"_

_ "No you don't!"_

_ Callum moved into the kitchen and stood close to her. The only other person who had stood that close to her was Freddie. "I love you, Sam." He kissed her once on the lips, then pulled back. "Forget about Freddie. I'm here and I love you."_

_ Sam closed her eyes. She really should forget about Freddie. It was his fault all these things were happening. He gave her another kiss, this time deeper. She could taste the alcohol in his mouth. This was wrong and she knew it._

_ Her phone buzzed and she pulled away, looking at her phone. It was from Freddie. Before she could read it, Callum grabbed it from her and threw it aside. He grabbed her chin and kissed her again. "Don't you love me too?"_

_ Sam inhaled sharply. She had no idea what to say. Her mind wanted to say yes, but her heart knew that it was only because she wanted to completely forget about Freddie. "Callum, I can't." she whispered._

_ Callum stared at her. "Why don't you show me your room?"_

_ Sam shifted uncomfortably. "I…"_

_ Callum grabbed her hand and started taking her through the hallway and up the stairs. He knew exactly where her room was. Despite his being drunk, he managed to lead her all the way to her room and closed the door behind them._

_ Sam stared at the closed door. She had a horrible feeling about this. She was feeling so conflicted about everything and she had no idea what was going to happen next. When she turned around, Callum was in front of her, minus his shirt. She inhaled sharply at the sight of his toned chest._

_ "Please, Sam?" he said softly as he leaned in for a kiss._

_ Sam didn't resist, even if the kiss was horrible and sloppy._

_ When she started hearing his belt coming undone, she pulled away. "What are you doing?"_

_ "Come on, I know you want this."_

_ "No, I don't."_

_ "It's no big deal. I love you, Sam. You'll enjoy it, I promise."_

_ There was suddenly a hungry look in his eyes that Sam had never seen before. She assumed it was because he was drunk. "I'm not doing this Callum."_

_ Callum looked ready to argue, but his face scrunched up. He moved his head to the side and vomited all over her floor._

_ Sam grimaced as she stared at him. He suddenly looked extremely unattractive and just horrible in general. She gave him a shove and left the room, not caring that he had fallen to the ground. He had probably passed out anyways and wouldn't care._

* * *

_ She slept in the living room that night. About an hour after leaving Callum in her room, she heard the door open and Shane came in. His footsteps sounded slower than usual, but Sam knew he wasn't drunk. He might have had a few drinks at whatever party he went to, but Shane never came home drunk. She liked that about her dad. He came into the living room when he saw that she was on the couch. She kept her eyes shut though. She didn't want to talk to him about anything that happened._

_ After a few moments he left and Sam was able to spend the rest of the night trying to go to sleep and attempting to process all her thoughts about Callum, Freddie, and life in general._

_ From the window in the living room, she saw the sun come up and to be honest, she thought it was one of the most beautiful things ever. She wondered vaguely why she didn't watch it more often. Then she remembered it was because the sun came up way too early for her taste._

_ Sleep just wouldn't come to her so she just got up after the sun rose and went into the kitchen. She made herself four eggs with a plate of ham on the side. As she was eating, she heard the creak from the stairs and saw Callum slowly making his way down, holding his shirt in one hand and his head in the other. He squinted at the bright sunlight. "Sam?"_

_ "Morning," she mumbled through a mouthful of food._

_ He sniffed the air and made a face. "Now I remember why I hate hangovers," he said as he moved to stand right across from her. "I can't remember a thing…why did I wake up in your room? How did I even get here?"_

_ Sam looked at him curiously. "You don't remember anything?"_

_ Callum shook his head, wincing from the pain of it as well._

_ Sam pursed her lips then looked down at her plate._

_ "Did we…?" he swore. "We had sex, didn't we?"_

_ Sam just stared at him. She was hesitating to correct him. Did she even really want to correct him?_

_ "I can't believe I can't remember it…I feel so horrible, Sam. I really do…I know you were…well, you had never done it before…um, I've actually never done it before either and now…I just can't believe I don't remember."_

_ Sam shook her head. "It's fine, Callum."_

_ "I'm sorry, Sam, but…I do love you."_

_ Sam felt her heart clenching. So did he really mean it this time?_

_ He smiled and placed his hand on her cheek. "I better leave before your dad wakes up." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'll see you later."_

_ Sam barely said anything as he left. She couldn't believe it. She could not believe that she didn't correct him. And he said that he loved her. She had no idea what to think. Then, there was still that whole deal with Freddie. But she didn't want to care about Freddie in that moment. Callum actually loved her. For all she knew, Freddie hated her guts and to be honest, she hated his too. At least, she really wanted to hate his guts. But she could not understand why she didn't correct Callum. Nothing happened between them last night._

_ The only thing that was clear in her mind was that she hated Ireland and the fact that it was making her change._

* * *

"So ever since then, we've kind of had a 'friends-with-benefits' thing going on. Making out in random places, going out all the time on the weekends…" Sam shrugged her shoulders as she set aside the pillow and placed her hands in her lap.

Carly just stared at her. "Why didn't you ever tell me anything?"

"Because I knew you would probably freak out and I didn't think it was even that important."

"Sam! Of course this is important!"

Sam rolled her eyes. "I knew you were going to make a big deal about this."

"Just so I'm clear on this…you and Callum never…went all the way?"

Sam shook her head. "He thinks we did, but we never did."

Carly took a deep breath "I am only going to say this once. You are in a very unhealthy relationship."

"Don't you think I know that?" Sam flopped back and stared up at the ceiling. "I just don't know what to do about it. I mean, he says that he loves me."

"But you don't."

"Of course not."

"So then the issue is…?"

Sam bit the side of her lip. "I kind of told someone we were going to get married…"

"What?!" Carly screamed. "You told Freddie you were going to get married!?"

"Why do you assume it's Freddie?" Sam asked angrily as she sat up.

Carly narrowed her eyes. "I'm not that stupid, Sam. You might not want to admit this, but the only reason why you're in this…weird relationship with Callum is because you either want to make Freddie jealous, forget about Freddie, or prove that you don't need him in your life."

"That isn't true." She grumbled.

Carly sighed and shook her head. "I have no idea what happened between you and Freddie and I've kind of given up hope that you'll tell me, but what you're doing here…you're going to lose both Freddie and Callum if you don't fix it."

Sam didn't look at Carly. She was right, but Sam had no idea how she was going to fix any of this.

"Carly! Carly! Carly!" they heard Spencer yelling as he climbed the stairs and started banging on Carly's door.

"Not now, Spencer! If you set something on fire, just call the fire department yourself!"

"Carly, open the door! I need to tell Sam something!"

"Fine!" Carly exclaimed as she got up to open the door.

Spencer stood there with an unreadable expression on his face. "Sam, your mom was in a car accident."


	24. The House

A/N: New chapter! I really enjoyed writing this one, so I hope you guys enjoying reading it too! Leave your comments please! Oh, and happy Thanksgiving for those who celebrate it!

* * *

The House

There were only two times that Sam went into shock because of some kind of news. The first time was when she found out Shane left them to go back to Ireland, and the second time was when she found out that Pam was dating Steven. Finding out her mom was in a car accident was now officially the third time she was really shocked.

The ride to the hospital was filled with tense silence. Spencer drove with Carly up front. He kept on glancing in his rear view mirror, making sure Sam was okay. She was quiet and wouldn't look at anyone. She just stared out the window as the scenery of Seattle flew by. Nobody noticed that she had grabbed Freddie's hand though and was holding it tightly.

Freddie was the one that got the call. They had first called Steven, then tried Melanie and Sam. None of them picked up until they tried calling Freddie. They didn't give him much explanation other than she had been in an accident and was in the ER.

They arrived at the hospital and Sam was the first one out. She practically ran inside up to the front desk. "Hey, lady, I'm looking for a Pamela Puckett. Where is she?" Sam said, not caring that she wasn't being polite.

The lady behind the desk cast one look at Sam and rolled her eyes, but started working at the computer. "She's on the second floor. Stay in the waiting area and I'll let the doctor know you're here."

"How is she doing though?"

"I have no idea. That's why you're going to wait for Dr. Garret."

Sam was about to reach over the desk and shake the lady until she gave her answers, but Freddie grabbed her shoulder and held her back. "Sam, let's go upstairs and wait."

Sam glared at the lady, but shook off Freddie's hand and started walking towards the stairs.

Carly, Spencer, and Freddie followed her up the stairs and watched as she plopped down in the nearest seat. Freddie slowly moved towards her and sat next to her. He had no idea how to comfort her. Should he rub her back? Pull her into a hug? Or just sit there?

"You! What are you doing here again!"

Freddie looked up to see a large woman standing directly in front of him. He swallowed hard, not knowing what to do. "Uh…"

The woman walked around him and pointed a sausage of a finger at Spencer. "I thought I told you we weren't going to help you anymore!"

If the woman didn't look so intimidating, Freddie would've laughed at her thick accent.

"I didn't do anything this time, I swear!" Spencer exclaimed from his seat.

"So why are you here?"

"I just really wanted to…have some of the coffee! Oh, they have the best coffee in the cafeteria, don't they Carly?"

Carly looked just as confused as Sam and Freddie.

"We're going to go get some! See you later!" Spencer jumped up from his chair and dragged Carly with him to the cafeteria.

The woman just shook her head and mumbled something in Russian. Freddie figured it was probably some kind of insult towards Spencer.

"Samantha Puckett?"

Sam stood up as a doctor came into the waiting area. "Yeah, where's my mom?" she questioned.

It was Dr. Garret. He frowned as he looked through some papers on his clipboard. "Pamela Pucket…" he started to shake his head.

Freddie reacted before his mind could fully comprehend what he was doing. He had wrapped his arms around Sam to hold her up before she collapsed to the ground. She clutched his shirt tightly, trying to forget what was happening.

"Oh, no. No, I'm sorry. I am so sorry, I didn't meant it like that…it's just we've never had a patient like her before." Dr. Garret quickly began to clarify.

Sam lifted her head and stared at him. "What?"

"She is doing perfectly fine. She just has a couple of bruises and scratches. We're making sure she doesn't have a concussion, but she's making it pretty hard for anyone to examine her. Constantly throwing stuff around, yelling at the nurses." Dr. Garret shook his head again, this time with a fond smile. "This story is definitely going to make my wife laugh."

"So can I see her?" Sam asked, taking a step forward.

"Yes, come with me. She's supposed to be resting, but I'm sure she's probably yelling instead."

Sam and Freddie followed him down the hallway and into a room. Pam was on a bed, trying to reach the remote that was on the nightstand.

"I'll leave you alone." The doctor said, leaving the room.

Pam, hearing the doctor, turned and saw Sam and Freddie. "Sam, thank goodness you're here. Now listen to me. I need you to get me a double meat hamburger with extra bacon and gaucamole. None of the stupid nurses want to do that for me. Oh and turn on the TV for me! They expect me to calmly stay in the room and not do anything? Yeah right."

"Shouldn't you take it easy, Ms. Puckett?" Freddie said carefully.

Pam glared at him. "You don't start with me. You look exactly like your father right now, so I'm pissed off at you."

Freddie tried to figure out the logic in her statement. Sam however, ignored what she said. "Mom, you were in an accident. Are you okay?"

"Of course, I'm fine. I swear, I'm the only person that should be allowed to drive. Everybody else are stupid and learn from their old granny's. Now get me that burger!"

"No, I'm not getting you a burger. I don't think anyone here would want you to eat that." Sam said with a frown.

Pam stared her down, then squinted her eyes as she continued looking at Sam. "You were worried."

"No, I-"

"Sam, just admit it. You were worried about me."

Freddie felt the tension level increase. He looked at the door and wondered if he should sneak out somehow.

"Fine, I was worried. But you know why? Because you're my mom and for some reason, I still think of you as my mom and I still love you, despite all the stupid things you do!"

Freddie started wondering if he should be that comforting presence for Sam, seeing as a huge argument was about to explode.

But there were no explosions and there wasn't an argument, much to Freddie's surprise.

"Sam, I am sorry. I know I've always done a crappy job at raising you and Melanie, but…I love you too. I really do."

Sam clenched her jaw as she tried her best not to smile. She didn't have to try that hard though because the door opened and Steven came in.

If Freddie had felt tension when Sam and Pam were about to argue, then this new atmosphere should have been given a completely new name that meant the same thing as tension, only ten times worse.

"Pam, I came as soon I heard! You're okay, right?" Steven asked as he stood right beside her and grabbed her hand.

Pam pulled her hand away though and pointed an accusatory finger at him. "This is _your_ fault!"

"What? You're going to blame idiot drivers on me? I didn't teach them how to drive!"

"If you hadn't been such a jerk, I wouldn't have even gone out!"

"Pam, I was not being a jerk. We were just discussing-"

"Open your mouth again and I promise you, I'll drown you myself!"

"We're no where near water right now!"

"I think we should leave…" Freddie whispered to Sam.

"I didn't think you could ever have a good idea." She whispered back.

Freddie grabbed Sam's hand and lead her out of the room. They headed back to the waiting area and saw Spencer and Carly there, both with coffee in their hands.

When they saw them coming, they both stood up. "Sam, how's your mom?" Spencer asked as he took a sip of his coffee. He grimaced at the taste and spit it back in his cup.

"She's fine. Steven showed up and they're…talking." She said.

Carly was going to say something, but noticed their intertwined hands. She smirked and raised an eyebrow at them.

Sam rolled her eyes and quickly let go of Freddie's hand. "Great, now I need to chop my hand off to get rid of the geek germs."

"You sure didn't say anything when I first grabbed your hand." Freddie pointed out with a smug grin.

Sam punched his arm.

"Ow! Could you at least not hit me in a hospital!"

"You were asking for it, Benson." Sam growled.

"And they're back to their arguing." Spencer said. "Seems like this world isn't going to end just yet." He said with a smirk.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Let's just leave."

* * *

Pam was allowed to go back home after she spent the night in the hospital. Sam and Freddie both wondered what happened between Steven and Pam after they left because they were actually being nice to each other again. Almost like they were when they first started dating.

Shane had called Sam several times before she actually decided to answer him. He had found out what happened to Pam and wanted to be sure she was okay. After Sam assured him that she was fine, he insisted on coming over. Sam had managed to convince him not to come over. She didn't think Pam would like that one bit.

She hadn't heard anything from Callum though and Sam couldn't decide if it was a good or bad thing. To be honest though, she kind of didn't care. She really didn't want to deal with him right now, especially after everything that happened.

Sam was currently in the kitchen making herself a triple ham sandwich. As she was making it, she figured her mom might want some too. The only reason why she was going to make Pam a sandwich too was because she had just been in a car accident. Sam would never make someone else some food under normal circumstances. And even then, she might end up eating half of it before she could even give it to Pam.

She went upstairs to the library where Pam was. She was siting in one of the chairs facing the window with her computer in her lap and headphones in her ears. Sam was about to call out, but noticed what was on the computer screen. It was real estate page, with house listings from all over Seattle.

From the way she and Steven had been acting this morning, she would've thought their relationship was getting better. So then why was Pam looking at houses?

An itch in Sam's nose came and she couldn't stop it from becoming a sneeze.

"Sam! What the heck! You scared me!" Pam exclaimed as she pulled her headphones out and closed her laptop.

Sam shrugged her shoulders. "It was just a sneeze. Geez, I didn't mean to scare you. I thought you might like a sandwich." Sam said as she gave Pam the plate

Pam stared at the sandwich. "Somebody took two bites already."

"What? I couldn't carry it all the way here without tasting it a little."

Pam shook her head, but smiled at the effort. "Well, thank you, Sam. And you made it just the way I like it, right?"

Sam nodded her head and started to leave. She stopped at the door though. "Mom, how are you and Steven?"

Pam looked confused, "Fine, why do you ask?" she said with her mouth half filled with food.

"Just wondering." Sam said before finally leaving.

* * *

Freddie was on his computer looking up scholarships and universities. This upcoming year was going to be his senior year in high school and it was never too early to start sending in applications. But his mind kept wandering to Sam. He wondered what she was planning to do after graduation and if that included leaving Seattle.

He looked at the time though and swore. They were supposed to have met Carly thirty minutes ago to work on iCarly. He stood up, grabbing his keys. He crossed the hallway and knocked on Sam's door. "Sam, we're late for meeting Carly. You ready to go?"

Sam opened the door. "Let's go." She mumbled.

Freddie frowned. There was no insult with her statement. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Fredward." She grumbled.

"Sam, what happened?" he took a deep breath before continuing with his next question. "Did Callum do something?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "I haven't even talked to him today."

"So then what is it?"

Sam bit her lip and didn't look at Freddie. "I kind of saw my mom looking something up."

Freddie waited for her to say something more. "And?"

"I don't think it was a good thing…"

"Sam, what was she looking up?"

Sam didn't say anything.

"Look, you probably saw it wrong. I don't think you should worry about it."

"I swear, she was looking at houses for sell!"

Freddie stared at her after her exclamation. "Are you serious?"

Sam closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Yes, I know what I saw."

"But I thought they were working things out…?"

"That's what I thought too," Sam mumbled. "Your dad better not hurt her…"

Freddie could see how worried she was and he knew exactly how to make her feel somewhat better. They were already late for the meeting, Carly could wait a few more minutes. "I want to show you something."

"I'm not in the mood to see some kind of Galaxy Wars collectibles."

Freddie chuckled. "Trust me, it's something you'll love."

Sam gave Freddie an incredulous look, "Fine, what is it?"

"Follow me." Freddie said as he started walking towards the back door. They went out into the backyard and walked all the way out to the end of the property line. There was a huge tree there, but nothing else. "What are we looking at?"

"Your treehouse." Freddie said with a proud smile.

Sam frowned as she looked at the tree and noticed small steps coming out from the trunk. It was hard to see in the dim lighting of the setting sun, but she could vaguely make out the form of a room within the thick branches.

With a huge smile on her face, Sam started climbing the tree with Freddie right behind her.

The whole thing was beautiful. There were Christmas lights hanging from ceiling and three paper lanterns in the middle. There were actual windows, two to be precise, and all around them were decorative carvings in the wood. Right by one of the windows was a chair and beanbags and pillows were all over the floor. In the corner was a huge stack of unopened boxes of fatcakes.

"Freddie…this is…" Sam looked at Freddie, unable to believe what she was seeing. "This is amazing!"

Freddie smiled, glad to see the excitement in her face. "I was hoping you would like it."

"Did you do this?"

"Well…since you were gone for five months and we couldn't do iCarly without you…I kind of had a lot time, so yeah. I did it."

Sam threw her arms around Freddie and hugged him. "This has to be one of the best things someone's ever done for me." She said quietly.

Freddie smiled as he hugged her back, loving the way she felt against him.

Sam pulled back and stared at him. She could feel her heart beginning to pound faster. The only thing she could really see anymore was Freddie staring right back at her.

Sam took a deep breath. No, this couldn't be happening. This was not supposed to be happening. She tried to look at anything, the branches outside, the Christmas lights, all of the detailed carvings in the wood. Nothing worked though. She couldn't tear her eyes away from him.

Freddie bit his lower lip. He took a deep breath as he tried to remember all the reasons why this shouldn't be happening. Sam was dating Callum, their parents were dating. She was Sam Puckett, his sworn enemy. All those reasons didn't seem that important though as he continued staring at her.

"It's never going to work between us, so we just need to kill whatever feelings we have and move on." She said quietly.

Freddie nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, plus there's Callum."

"And our parents are dating."

"If we did this, it'd almost be like incest."

"It would ruin our reputations."

"We'd never get away with any of it."

"It's just a bad idea in general."

As they were listing off the reasons, they were slowly moving closer and closer until they were in each others breathing space. Freddie glanced down at her lips…her lips that were so close…and that was all it took. He took a deep breath and crashed his lips on to hers. Sam responded immediately by placing her hands on his neck, trying to bring him closer.

Even though Sam was mostly focusing on the kiss, in the back of her mind, she brought up all the different times she and Freddie had actually kissed. As she compared them, none of them were like this and she was incredibly pleased.

Freddie did his best to only keep his mouth on hers, but there were so many other tempting things. A small nibble on her ear lobe, a little sucking on her neck, moving aside the fabric covering her shoulder and kissing her soft, soft skin.

Somewhere along the way, Freddie ended up sitting on the chair with Sam straddling him.

"What are we doing, Freddie?" Sam breathed out as she moved her head to give his neck a little love.

Freddie closed his eyes in pure pleasure. "I have no idea, Sam."

Who knows how far they actually would've gone. Sam always believed she would never take things that far with Freddie Benson, but asking Freddie, he honestly couldn't say that he would've been able to stop if they went much further. Maybe that's why it was a good thing Sam's phone went off.

Sam pulled back as soon as she heard her phone. She stared at Freddie, with wide eyes. Shocked at what they were actually doing, and shocked at the fact that she had never remembered feeling so much joy and pleasure.

Before her phone stopped ringing, Sam moved off of Freddie's lap and answered without checking who it was. "Hello?" she asked after clearing her throat.

Freddie couldn't tell who it was, but he assumed it wasn't anyone Sam wanted to actually talk to, seeing as she bowed her head immediately, closed her eyes, and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Yeah, no it's fine…no, I said I'm fine…I just…I was running…yes! That's all I was doing!"

"Sam! Freddie!"

Sam and Freddie both turned to look out the window to see Carly making her way out to the tree house, using her phone as a flash light.

"Look, I'll just call you later. Carly just showed up…yes, I promise…no, I…can we just talk about this later?...whatever, I'll call you when I'm free." Sam growled into the phone.

Before Freddie had a chance to ask Sam who it was, Carly had already climbed up the ladder and was now in the tree house. "Hey, what have you two been doing? I thought we said we were going to meet an hour ago for iCarly stuff?"

Freddie wouldn't look Carly in the eyes as he wiped his mouth, hoping none of Sam's lip gloss was on his face, or anywhere else for that matter. Sam was busy trying to inconspicuously fix her hair that Freddie had messed up by running his hands through it.

Carly stared at them both, noticing that something was off. "Is everything okay?"

Sam scoffed. "Of course everything's fine. Why wouldn't it be fine?"

"Yeah, everything's fine, we're fine, the whole world is fine." Freddie added, nodding his head eagerly.

Carly gave them both curious looks, knowing she just missed something huge. "Um…"

"What kind of stupid answer is that?" Sam exclaimed as she slapped Freddie's arm.

"It's true! We're fine! There's nothing wrong!"

"Oh yeah, but you just had to throw in your comment! Carly was fine with just my comment!"

"What, so now you're saying I can't contribute to any conversation?!"

"Exactly! Just keep your mouth shut from now on, Benson! Maybe then the whole world will be fine!"

"So you want me to just shut up?! Do you really want to start this whole silent treatment over again, then?! Is that what you want?!'

Sam punched his arm. "I just don't want to see you right now! I'm leaving!"

"Fine! Maybe once you come back, you'll have found your sanity!"

Sam kicked his shin, almost making him double over in pain, before climbing out of the tree house.

Carly watched Sam leave before looking back at Freddie. "I'm guessing she liked the treehouse?"

Freddie just groaned as he sat down and threaded his fingers through his hair.

Carly crossed her arms and stood directly in front of Freddie. She gave him her best disappointed look and spoke. "You two just had a huge make-out session, didn't you?"

Freddie's head shot up and he stared at Carly in shock and a little fear. "How…why do you think that?"

Carly rolled her eyes. "I'm not as oblivious as you guys think I am. Both of you have messed up hair, swollen lips, and I can see that shiny stuff around your lips which I know is from Sam's lip gloss." Carly grimaced. "Ew…it's on your neck too.

Freddie's hand went to his neck as he tried to wipe it off. It was useless though. He let his head fall into his hands. "Carly, I…" he took a deep breath as he tried to process his thoughts. "I just don't know what to do with…this. I don't even understand what's happening between us."

"You really like her, don't you?"

Freddie, without any hesitation, wordlessly nodded his head.

"Then I think you know exactly what you're supposed to do."


End file.
